Last October, cops formed a special team and roped in locals to clamp down on the business of illegal liquor thriving in the area. Six months down, they have managed to shut down 90 per cent of bhattis
The Bhatsa river flows on the boundaries of Sarlamaba village. The police say that the constant water supply allowed in bhattis (where the hooch is made) to thrive in the area. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
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Last year, following orders by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Thane Rural police launched a six-month crackdown on the thriving business of illegal country-made liquor that had been thriving in the region for decades.
The trigger for the crackdown was the rape and murder of a 15-year-old by three men in Koparadi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, more than 288 km from Mumbai. The accused had allegedly been under the influence of alcohol, on July 13, 2016, when they assaulted the Class IX student.
Often the spots where the bhattis function are so deep in the forest or mangrove-covered areas that the police have to send in drones to conduct a recee first
Step one in the police plan was to target Sarlamba, the hub, in order to cut supply of spurious liquor to various parts of Maharashtra including adjoining areas of Ganesh Puri, Bhiwandi, Wada, Padgha, Kasara, Titwala, Murbad, Kalyan, Thane and even Mumbai.
Cops from Padgha Police Station, in a forested area under their jurisdiction, where they had, earlier in April conducted a raid on a hooch making bhatti
Among the first things that the Shahapur police did was rope in 300 villagers and create Liquor Ban Committees whose members would play class monitor. Technology also played a key role as cops used drones to access forested areas.
"Since October," says Mahesh Patil, Superintendent of Police, Thane Rural police, "We have registered 172 cases and arrested 161 people. We have seized liquor worth R3,17,412 in total. All of this from Sarlamba village alone."
Vimal Hilam, 60, the Sarlamba sarpanch now wants the Shahapur cops to ban even foreign liquor
The road to Sarlamba
Located nearly 100 kilometres from Mumbai, Sarlamba lies on the Bhatsa river. The village, with a population of over 3,000 has historically been inhabited by Varkaris (a pilgrim community) and Agris (a landed community).
The hooch business, thriving for the last several decades, survived as there was no other regular source of income for the villagers.
Barrels of illegal liquor recovered from Uttan
Jaywant Tupe 40, who grows okra on his farm, says even as a child he would witness 24-hour liquor production in the village.
"It's only in the last five year that people started farming ladies' fingers after water supply became regular from Bhatsa dam. Ironically, most of the villagers are Varkaris and don't even drink. But, the easy money has forced them into this business," he adds.
The fisherwomen of Uttan village who were most affected by the hooch business, have now joined hands with the police to conduct the raids
Another villager, Eknath Tupe, states that though there are many industrial estates adjoining the village, jobs there pay a measly Rs 210 for a 12-hour shift. Both say that students would be roped in to act as delivery boys, taking the illegally made alcohol to customers.
"After we started the drive we found that Sarlamba is the only village in the district with a history of supplying nearly 5,000 bottles of illicit liquor on a daily basis to different parts of Mumabi and Thane district. No officer would dare to conduct a raid in the village, as attacking policemen was common. Every third house would be involved in the business," says Sanjay Dhumal, senior police inspector, Shahapur police station.
Pagdha cops have also ensured that those who were arrested for making and selling liquor illegally are provided with jobs with a steady income. Some of the women have got jobs at the Padgha Raymond store
The cops get ready for a crackdown
Dhumal says that his daily schedule now took into account the raids that they would have to conduct. "After 2 pm, I would gather information on the liquor dens that we'd have to raid on that evening. After a raid, we would destroy all the barrels and material found on the spot."
The cops also took preventive action against 37 persons under Section 110 of the Mumbai Police Act (behaving indecently in public). "We refused to register a case against an unknown person. We'd wait and gather information against the person responsible," says Dhumal.
Much of the work was preventive action. Nandala Jagtap, 50, a police constable who monitors the village says the team has visited each and every house in the village of 350 homes to check to see that no liquor is being prepared or sold. mid-day met the Padgha police of Thane Rural who also conducted a similar raid in their area. Their first step after the crackdown order was creating awareness and roping in locals, says Bhaskar Pukle, Senior Police Inspector, Padgha police station. Cracking down on illegal hooch centers, says Govind Borade, assistant police inspector, Padgha Police Station, can be as tough as solving a murder. "Often, while conducting a raid, we'd find that the woman concerned has already been informed. They'd hide the hooch somewhere. When we reached the homes, the doors would be locked. Women would claim they are having a bath and wouldn't let us in. Sometimes we'd have to search for hours inside the forest for a bhatti," he adds.
The Drones advantage
In order to access the densely forested areas, cops in the Thane rural area used drones to keep an eye from above the sky. "Often, even with information we were unable to trace the hooch bhattis. Then, we'd use drones to trace the location. Most of these were on hills or near the corners of creek, inside mangroves or jungle," says Prashant Kadam, Additional Superintendent of Police, Thane rural police.
Forming mohalla committees
In total, the cops formed around 357 Liquor Ban Committees, across 16 police stations. The committees comprise of around 3,860 members who now regularly share information with the police. In the last five months, Thane rural police have received information 254 times and conducted 28 successful raids.
Kadam adds that initially the cops faced a tough time, but the raids would not have been possible without the support of the villagers.
Jagdish Shantaram Kor, 41, a committee member in Padgha, says a Whatsapp group was also created to share information with the cops. "We would also counsel those who sold liquor in their homes, saying it would lead to a bad atmosphere at home. At present, there is a 100 per cent ban in the villages," he added.
The cops also made it a point to rope in women whose husbands had died following consumption of spurious liquor, as informants.
In the fisherman's village at Uttan, such stories abound.
Libera Peter Marvi is a 50-year-old with three daughters and two sons. Her husband, Peter, was a fisherman who died 22 years ago in a mid-sea tragedy. "The men were out fishing and they spotted a barrel filled with liquor. They all consumed the liquor, which was poisoned, and died. Since, then I have been looking after my kids by selling fish. I hardly earn Rs 1,200 per week."
Housewife and committee member Tereja Francis Uttankar, 50, says, "Before heading to sea at 3 am, men would rather have liquor than tea. How will they survive the day if they start this way? The making had increased in the last eight years. Now, since the past few months, things have changed because the police has started taking the issue seriously."
Ending with rehabilitation
The cops realised one thing: Until those involved were provided with an alternative source of income, no real change would last. It then started finding jobs for the men and women who were arrested. The Padgha police, for instance, has rehabilitated around 40 people including women who were provided with jobs in warehouses.
Bhaskar Phukle, Senior Police Inspector, Padgha, says where the women would earn Rs 3,000 per month, they now have jobs with a monthly Rs 10,000 salary. People have found employment at the Mahindra showroom, some at a Raymond store and some at an Amazon godown.
Deepak Shinde, 55, a labour contractor with JK investor, the firm that to which Raymond has outsourced its housekeeping hiring, says that two months ago the police approached them in order to rehabilitate the men and women arrested for selling illegal liquor. "They were uneducated, so the only job we could provide was housekeeping. At present there are 12 women working with us. They prefer the freedom of working here than the hide and seek game they were playing with the police."
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