With the arrest of Jogindar Sharma, Kailash Rathi will look to reclaim the lost ground in the trade.
The bootlegging arena, be it in Rajasthan, Punjab or even Gujarat, has seen some major highs and lows in the last one year. There have been some major changes in power equations with new kingpins emerging in the state.
The notorious Kailash Rathi replaced his alleged guru Dilip Marwadi. Rathi who was arrested a year ago was released on bail in the recent past. However, in the meantime his competitor and bête noire Jogindar Sharma encroached on his monopoly in the trade.
While in jail, Rathi had his deputy Kalu Mahipatram looking after the business. However, as soon as he was released from the custody of Gujarat police, he took back the reins from Mahipatram. Still, it was difficult for him to compete with Sharma, who controlled over 80% of total supply of illegal Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) to Gujarat, and reclaim his erstwhile monopoly.
Now with the arrest of Sharma, Rathi will get another chance to reclaim his original position as the liquor king of Gujarat. "When Rathi was in police custody, Sharma managed to get hold of most of the areas of the state and started to supply IMFL to almost all parts of the state," a source told DNA.
Sharma, however, has a 'competent' line of deputies who could stop Rathi. Sources said that Sharma has two main aides - Akbar Ali alias Zuber Saiyad, and Kalu, a resident of Mehsana district.
"Both of them will ensure that after the arrest of Sharma, the flow of their IMFL to the state continues from the route set by Rathi and followed by Sharma," the source said.
Illegal IMFL worth a few crores is sold in Gujarat every day by Sharma and Rathi.
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