ગુજરાતી
English
February 7, 2026
An illicit liquor factory belonging to a former Vice President of the Rajkot District Panchayat and a female BJP member from the Pipardi seat in Vinchhiya was busted. 218 bottles, 30 liters of liquor-making liquid were seized, and goods worth a total of Rs. 1.48 lakh were confiscated.
Police raided a farm room on the outskirts of Amrapar village in Vinchhiya and seized a mini-factory producing counterfeit English liquor. The farm belongs to Savitaben Nathabhai Vasani, a member of the Rajkot District Panchayat from the Pipardi seat. Ranjit Vasani, who was not found during the police raid, is her son. The accused were procuring the liquor-making liquid from Kishan Marwadi of Rajasthan through transport. Empty bottles, their labels, and caps were also being supplied along with the liquid.
The accused were mixing water with the liquid they received and filling it into bottles before selling it.
A total of four people, including two teenagers, were arrested.
The BJP leader’s son, considered the mastermind, escaped.
Jitesh Virbhai Solanki (resident of Samadhiyala, Vinchhiya taluka), Pradeep Kalubhai Sagathiya (resident of Vinchhiya), and two teenagers were arrested. Ranjit Nathabhai Vasani (resident of Vinchhiya) was named as an accused.
Earlier, in Rajkot city, a man involved in the illicit liquor trade had posed as a city BJP minister and was driving around with liquor bottles in his car, displaying a nameplate indicating his false position. This man was apprehended late at night by the B-Division police team at Greenland Chowk. Initially, he claimed to be a city BJP minister and said he would be released with just one phone call. However, after thorough questioning, the police determined that he was not a minister and was involved in the illicit liquor trade. Earlier, police received information that Ashish Vagadiya, a former corporator of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation and a BJP worker, was intoxicated in his office the previous day. Police then raided Ashish Vagadiya’s office, where the former corporator was found in a drunken state. Police subsequently arrested Ashish Vagadiya and took him to the police station.
Earlier, two men, Rishabh Desai and Shubham Thanki, were caught carrying a bottle of Scotch whisky worth Rs. 2900 for BJP youth leader Monil Shah. Following this incident, the BJP suspended Monil Rajendrabhai Shah (30 years old), the former Youth Wing president of Ward No. 10. The city BJP president stated that Monil Shah, an active BJP worker involved in consuming and dealing in illicit liquor and damaging the party’s reputation, has been suspended from all his posts and from the party’s primary membership after his name surfaced in the case.
Earlier, Yogendra Singh Jadeja was found manufacturing counterfeit foreign liquor in a room in his garden in Mota Vadgam. Lodhika police recovered plastic bags and containers. A plastic tank was also found, emitting a strong smell of alcohol. Stickers, wrappers, and boxes of McDowell’s No. 1 brand foreign liquor were also recovered from the premises. Equipment for making counterfeit foreign liquor, 60 bottles of foreign liquor, and 385 liters of liquor were seized from the farm room, totaling Rs. 25,000.
Earlier, Bhaktinagar police registered a case against Rajkot BJP leader and Ward No. 14 OBC Morcha Chairman Jaydeep Devda for liquor-related offenses. To protect Jaydeep Devda, councilors from his own ward and his partner in Ward No. 2 allegedly threatened the police. 54 bottles of liquor and 24 cans of beer were seized.
Jaydeep Devda had become a registered booth guardian by enrolling 200 members. Bhaktinagar police raided Gopalnagar Nine. (Translated from Gujarati using Google Translate)
