The Gujarat Police will have an all-new Prohibition Squad to check on the illicit liquor trade in the ‘dry’ state.

Director General of Police S S Khandwawala told Newsline that this special team will work on cases related to prohibition. “The apex body will be based at Gandhinagar. The teams will be sent to various spots for investigations,” he said.

They will be mobile and work on a case-to-case basis in different cities and districts, he added. The squad will become functional from October, the DGP added.

The squad has been carved out of the team of officers appointed to the Vigilance Commission after the hooch tragedy in Ahmedabad.

Hasmukh Patel, the then DIG of Police Modernisation was appointed DIG Vigilance and supervising officer of the team. He had further appointed two inspectors for investigations.

Patel said: “Earlier, the team was appointed only to look into the investigation of hooch cases where additional duties were given to the officers. Now, the police department has decided to form a special squad, taking some officers from that team and some new appointees to form a dedicated force to work on prohibition cases. The team will only work on special cases and the police stations will continue to look into routine cases. But if the DGP feels that a particular police station cannot handle a particular case, then the squad will be put on the job.”

The squad constitutes a DIG, inspectors, sub-inspectors and constables. The DGP has also planned to rope in an ADGP to strengthen the team.

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