M.P. Police inspector mowed down by truck carrying illicit liquor in Dewas; racket supplying liquor to Gujarat uncovered

According to police, the liquor was being smuggled from Harda district to Gujarat; truck owner arrested, driver remains at large

Updated - November 03, 2026 01:37 am IST - Bhopal

SHO Dilip Puri. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

An inspector of Madhya Pradesh Police was on Monday mowed down in Dewas district by a truck that he had intercepted on suspicion of smuggling illegal liquor, police said on Monday. The officer has been identified as Khategaon police station in-charge Dilip Puri.

An investigation launched following the incident has uncovered an illicit trade network spanning in multiple districts of Madhya Pradesh that supplies liquor to Gujarat.

According to the police, the incident took place around 1.30 a.m. on Indore-Betul highway when Mr. Puri was leading one of the four teams formed based on intelligence inputs that large amounts of illicit liquor was being transported from Harda district’s Timarni to Gujarat.

During the checking, a parked truck was spotted near Sandalpur in Dewas district and Mr. Puri had asked the driver to step down for a search.

“The driver, however, with the intent of killing Dilip Puri, ran him over with the truck and fled the scene. Mr. Puri died during treatment. The driver also tried to run over constable Sohan Jaat, who has suffered injuries,” an official police statement said.

The driver abandoned the truck after some distance and fled the scene. Dewas Superintendent of Police Aditya Mishra said that the truck was seized and more than 1,800 litres of illicit liquor in about 200 cartons were recovered from it. A video of the truck’s inspection showed that the cartons had been kept in a hidden chamber, made by laying down an additional metal surface to project the vehicle as empty.

Special Director General (DG) of Police Upendra Jain, who has been deputed by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to oversee the probe, told The Hindu that the driver has been identified as Gajendra Rawat alias Akku, a resident of Alirajpur district, and a search is on for him. He said that the vehicle had been provided by Kairam Singh Changod, also from Alirajpur, and the local police has taken him into custody and is being questioned.

Mr. Jain said that a case under BNS Sections 103(1), 109(1), 121(2), 3(5) and Section 34(2) Madhya Pradesh Excise Act, 1915, has been lodged.

The Special DG said that the investigation has been revealed that the illicit liquor was being taken from Harda to Gujarat.

Mr. Jain said that the police have identified several people involved in the illicit liquor network. They are Patendra Jaiswal, a resident of Badwani district who owns a government licensed liquor shop in Harda, and his business partners — Manish Jaiswal of Indore, Mohin Jaiswal who lives in Gujarat, and Rahul Jaiswal of Harda’s Timarni and his associate Vijay Rao, a resident of Indore.

The officer said that Mr. Rahul Jaiswal has been identified as a key accused, ran the network to supply illicit liquor to Gujarat. He and Mr. Rao have been taken into custody and are being questioned about their entire network.

Mr. Rahul Jaiswal has been identified as a Congress functionary, and is the party’s in-charge for the Khategaon Assembly seat.

“Rahul Jaiswal operates the network from Harda to smuggle illegal liquor to Gujarat. He runs the racket to supply liquor from three shops to various regions. All the money from the illicit liquor trade would go to him which he then distributed to others,” the officer said.

Mr. Jain said that the police have uncovered the entire racket of illicit liquor trade and that the SPs of five districts have formed multiple teams in their respective regions that are conducting raids to nab people involved in the cartel.

The Dewas Police have also announced a reward of Rs10,000 each for the absconding accused in the case.

Meanwhile, the State Excise Department suspended Assistant District Excise Officer, Harda, Amar Singh Baghel and two excise constables for negligence.

Harda Collector Kumar Satyam also cancelled the licenses of three shops of Mr. Patendra Jaiswal in the district.

A post-mortem has been conducted on the deceased officer’s body and a special investigation team (SIT) has been formed in the case.

Mr. Puri, a resident of Dhar district, had joined the service in 2007 as a sub-inspector and had been posted in Dewas just a few months ago. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son. His body was dispatched to his village in Dhar.

The incident comes amid the ongoing investigation into the death of 13 people in two villages of the district, allegedly due to spurious liquor. Following the incident, the government had also transferred both the then Collector and SP of the district amid the controversy.