Surat: Police have dismantled a network smuggling foreign liquor using cars on the Ro-Ro ferry service operating between Hazira port in Surat and Ghogha in Saurashtra. Batu Sakhat from Talaja was arrested with 155 bottles of foreign liquor, and goods worth a total of ₹4.36 lakh were seized. He has been remanded in police custody for two days.

Hazira police arrested Batu Sakhat and seized 155 bottles of various brands of foreign liquor worth ₹1,30,771, a Hyundai car worth ₹3,00,000, and mobile phones, totaling ₹4,39,771. Sakhat, a resident of Mahadevpara in Talaja, Bhavnagar district, was apprehended during the operation.

During interrogation, Sakhat revealed that he had loaded the liquor from Sayan village. He was produced in court and remanded in police custody for two days.

The operation was conducted under the instructions of PI V.L. Parmar of Hazira Police Station, who had directed the surveillance staff to monitor the Ro-Ro ferry to prevent liquor smuggling. Head Constables Himanshu Darbar and Chetansingh acted on a tip-off and intercepted a car (GJ-1RV-5568) heading towards Ghogha on the ferry.

The government had launched the Ro-Ro ferry service to facilitate travel between Surat and Saurashtra by sea, allowing passengers to transport their vehicles. However, this convenience was being exploited by anti-social elements for illegal activities. DeshGujarat