Busted: Liquor bottles 'parcelled' to dry Gujarat from Diu in India Post van 

Liquor

The Gujarat police caught a group in Gir Somnath district for smuggling alcohol from Diu to Gujarat, which remains a dry state under prohibition laws, by involving the misuse of India’s official postal service.

The Una town police, located 15 kilometers from Diu, intercepted a man riding a two-wheeler near Delwada. The man, identified as Nayan Jethwa, was carrying a post office package. Upon interrogation, police found two parcels inside, both bearing legitimate postal stamps. Further investigation revealed that the parcels contained 19 bottles of various liquor brands.

According to the police, Jethwa admitted to purchasing the alcohol in Diu and collaborating with a friend, Mayur Gohil, who holds the position of postmaster in Diu. Gohil facilitated the smuggling operation by providing postal markings to the parcels and loading them onto India Post delivery vehicles. This manoeuvre was intended to evade suspicion at the security checkpoints.

M N Rana, Inspector of the Una police confirmed that Gohil had misused his position by treating the liquor-laden parcels as standard postal deliveries. The driver of the postal vehicle transported the contraband, believing it to be routine mail. Following Gohil's plan, Jethwa collected the parcels from the postal van at Vidhyanagar, situated on Delwada Road.

However, their plan was busted when the police received a tip-off through sources. Armed with this information, the police officials successfully intercepted Jethwa while he attempted to bring the liquor into Gujarat, thereby foiling the smuggling attempt.