Aam Aadmi's spirit exposes liquor trafficking in trains

Bharuch: The railway police was left red-faced when an 'aam aadmi' exposed liquor trafficking in trains that is rampant right under the nose of the cops.
Jigar Bhatt, a resident of Kosamba, caught hold of three bootleggers who were carrying liquor bottles in cloth bags at the Kosamba station on Saturday. Bhatt then threw all the liquor bottles on the platform in presence of the railway police as well as hundreds of passengers coming from Surat in the Memu at 5pm.
Talking to TOI, Bhatt said, "I am a regular traveller and I have noticed how bootleggers operate freely and transport liquor in trains.I also made a complaint to the railway police several times but they kept on denying any such illegal activity."
"I decided to take it up as a challenge to expose this rampant activity. On July 23, I also asked some of my friends to come and help me in this operation but they refused. But this did not deter me," Bhatt said.
Bhatt, who works in a private company in Kosamba, himself stopped three persons who were carrying cloth bags and threatened to call the police. "One of them told me, it was futile to call the cops and asked me to leave. But I was firm and called up the railway police. They came in about 30 minutes but asked me to leave saying they will take proper action," he said.
Bhatt, however, remained adamant and insisted that the bags be opened. "Before they could understand anything, I opened the bags and started throwing the liquor bottles on the platform," said Bhatt, who even made a video of the entire incident and uploaded it on social networking sites.
Finally, the railway police came into the action and lodged an FIR against one person identifed as Ravi Ramesh Patel, 28, a native of Udwada in Navsari district.
Ramesh Rohit, head constable of railway police at Kosamba, admitted that Bhatt had approached the police complaining of the menace. "We have arrested Ravi Patel," Rohit said but he was unable to explain the rampant liquor trafficking at the station.