Surat: Dramatic scenes were witnessed on State Highway-177 in Navsari on Friday when the Local Crime Branch (LCB) team attempted to intercept two bootleggers travelling from Silvassa with liquor stashed in an SUV.After the LCB police stopped the SUV and cordoned it off, the bootlegger suddenly reversed the vehicle at high speed and attempted to flee. While escaping, the driver rammed into another car and a truck, yet managed to get away with the liquor.The incident occurred near Rankuwa police chowki in Chikhli taluka. LCB police sub-inspector M B Gamit and other policemen had been keeping watch near the chowki and stopped the car as it approached their checking point.“We had received specific intelligence that an SUV with a Gujarat registration number had left Silvassa with liquor and would pass through Nana Pondha, Dharampur, Rumla and Rankuwa. We maintained a watch and stopped car no. GJ-01-WA-0972 as it approached. The occupants initially stopped peacefully as we cordoned the car from two sides to prevent escape. However, the driver suddenly reversed and broke through the barricades. In the process, they hit a truck and a car near Rankuwa circle, causing damage to their vehicle,” Gamit said.The driver then turned towards State Highway-15 in the direction of Chikhli and attempted to speed away. The LCB teams chased them. As the SUV had been badly damaged, it could not pick up speed. “After driving for about two kilometres, the driver and his aide abandoned the car near Manekpore and fled into the farms near the highway. We recovered 1,488 bottles of liquor worth Rs 4.70 lakh from the vehicle.”When the police verified the chassis number with the number plate, they discovered that the car was actually from Rajasthan and registered with the Jodhpur RTO under the number RJ-19-CM-8614.Navsari police have booked four persons, including the two bootleggers who were travelling in the car, and have begun an investigation.
