The squad was set up by the Vadodara police range on the instructions of the Minister of State for Home Haren Pandya in order to check the movement of un-numbered vehicles, especially two-wheelers. The decision was taken in the wake of a sharp increase in crime in the areas bordering Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh over the past few months.

Special Inspector-General of Police D D Tuteja told Express Newsline that a police party headed by sub-inspector B C Bhandari of Panchmahal's Halol police station signalled the driver of a motorcycle to stop when he saw it did not bear a number-plate.

When the motorcyclist did not stop, the police gave chase, Tuteja said. After some distance, the motorbike skidded and both the driver and the pillion-rider fell. When they tried to run away, Tuteja said, the police fired two rounds in the air from a .38 revolvers; the two then stopped and were caught. Five-and-a-half kg of opium, worth Rs 55,000, was seized from their possession.

The arrested persons have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances(NDPS) Act .