A notorious liquor smuggler from Rajasthan’s Sikar district, Anil Pandya, has been arrested in Dubai following inputs from the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad, and the process to bring him back to India has been initiated.
Sikar Superintendent of Police Praveen Nayak Noonawat said a lookout notice had already been issued against Pandya. Acting on confirmed information received by the Gujarat ATS about his presence in Dubai, he was arrested with the assistance of international agencies. Legal procedures for his extradition to India are now underway.
Pandya faces 39 criminal cases in Sikar district alone. He is also accused in several liquor smuggling cases registered in Gujarat, Haryana and other states. He had been active in the illegal liquor trade for nearly 20 years.
Pandya is a resident of Khaji Ka Bas village in Roopnagar, Fatehpur tehsil of Sikar district. He initially worked at a tea stall before later leaving manual work and entering criminal activities.
His name first surfaced in 2012 in connection with the murder of Birju Thekedar, in which he was arrested. He later escaped from Sanchore jail along with his associates. During his period as a fugitive, he came into contact with major liquor mafias and gradually built a large illegal liquor smuggling network.
Despite prohibition in Gujarat, Pandya established a supply network to transport liquor into the state. He sourced liquor from Haryana and routed it through Rajasthan to Gujarat, where it was sold at double the printed price.
After 2022, Pandya fled to Dubai and continued to operate the network from there. His gang included several known associates, including Jagdish Prasad and Taufiq Nazir Khan. He operated the network through Taufiq, who was also arrested in Dubai last year.
Pandya allegedly earned crores of rupees through liquor smuggling. In 2022, he constructed a house worth approximately Rs 80 lakh in his village. According to information, his gang was involved in liquor smuggling worth crores of rupees on a daily basis.
About 10 months ago, Sikar police seized liquor worth around Rs 1 crore belonging to his gang that was being transported from Haryana to Gujarat disguised as a cement roller. Gujarat Police have also seized his vehicles on multiple occasions. In 2023, the National Investigation Agency conducted a raid at his house and seized several important documents.
