Bootlegger fires at Guj Police, 25 booked for murder attempt

Dahod (Gujarat), Jan 11 (IANS) A bootlegger in Gujarat’s Dahod district opened seven rounds of fire on a police team, when they tried to intercept his vehicle.

In defence, the police also fired four rounds at the bootlegger and his associates. The police seized a huge stock of IMFL even as the culprits managed to escape.

The incident happened on Tuesday night, and the police have filed a case against 25 persons.

State Monitoring Cell of Police (SMC) Police Inspector R.S. Patel in his complaint with the Sagtala police station stated, “The SMC had information that bootlegger Bhikha Rathva and his associates were smuggling a huge stock of IMFL and they will pass through Dhanpura -Panchiyasal road. So the team had created a barricade. When the police tried to stop Rathva’s vehicle, instead of stopping his vehicle, he tried to run over the policemen and opened fire. He fired seven rounds at police. In defence, the policemen also fired four rounds on him. However, the bootlegger and his associates were successful in fleeing.”

In the complaint, the officer stated that the police vehicles were damaged, but the police were successful in seizing huge quantities of IMFL and four vehicles.

Police have invoked IPC section for attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, armed with deadly weapons, rioting and obstructing public servant from discharging his duty. The complaint is filed against bootlegger Bikha Rathva and 24 others, the case is being investigated by Police Inspector S.M. Gameti.

–IANS

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