MARGAO: Ligorio D’Souza, a liquor trader from Canacona, has been directed by the Gujarat High Court at Ahmedabad to appear before two police stations on December 27 in connection with two cases related to attempting to smuggle alcohol into the dry State of Gujarat.
Ligorio is named as an accused in two cases under the Prohibition Act in Gujarat. In August earlier this year, Gujarat Police sought him for an inquiry, but they couldn’t trace him despite seeking assistance from local police in Canacona. Subsequently, Ligorio applied for anticipatory bail at the District and Sessions Court at Kachch, which was denied. He then approached the Gujarat High Court for anticipatory bail, and the court granted him conditional bail. As per the court’s directive, Ligorio is required to appear before the investigating officers of the Adesar and Samakhiali police stations in Kachch district on December 27 between 11 am to 2 pm.
The conditions set by the court include surrendering his passport, not leaving the country without court permission, providing the address of his permanent residence (which he cannot change until the case is disposed), refraining from supplying liquor in retail or wholesale to the state, and abstaining from any illegal activities.
Ligorio was implicated in two cases in Gujarat, one in June 2023 and the other in 2022, for allegedly supplying liquor to the dry State.
Ligorio was named by two persons, namely driver Anil Maruti Tarde and Ramchandra Maruti Tarde, who were found carrying alcohol worth Rs 45.70 lakh in their truck, near the Samkhivali National Highway.
Ligorio was identified as the main supplier in an illegal alcohol supply racket spanning Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. Notably, Ligorio had also faced charges from the Goa Excise Department in 2010 for operating an illegal liquor unit near the Goa-Karnataka border, involved in supplying Indian Made Foreign Liquor to Goa and Karnataka.
