Ahmedabad: The Local Crime Branch (LCB) Zone-5 and Krishnanagar surveillance team on Monday busted a bootlegging racket in which empty bottles of premium liquor brands were allegedly refilled with cheaper Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and sold as branded products.Acting on a tip-off, police arrested Hemal Vaghela, 23, from Thakkarbapanagar and seized liquor stocks along with material allegedly used for the unauthorised refilling and repackaging operation. Three other suspects, identified as Bharat Solanki, Vijay Solanki and Sunil Solanki, all residents of Thakkarbapanagar, are absconding.According to LCB officials, the accused allegedly collected empty bottles of various liquor brands, along with brand stickers and bottle caps, and refilled them with cheaper IMFL.The bottles were then allegedly repackaged to resemble genuine branded liquor by affixing brand-specific stickers and sealing them with matching caps.Police seized 47 liquor bottles, 71 quarter bottles, and 15 beer cans, besides a large quantity of material allegedly used in the operation.Among the items recovered were 322 empty glass bottles carrying different brand labels, 118 empty 180ml plastic quarter bottles, 293 bottle caps, and 211 brand stickers.Investigators are probing the source of the empty bottles, the suppliers of the cheaper IMFL and the distribution network for the refilled bottles. Police suspect the empty bottles were sourced from roadside vendors and scrap dealers.
