While the prohibition police accuse the personnel of the parent force of being uncooperative, the latter claim that the enforcement cops, unsuccessful in stemming the flow of liquor in the State, are passing the buck on to them.

One senior police official went so far as to say, ``Sooner or later, the prohibition force have to be dismantled and its personnel absorbed in the police force. They just don't have the infrastructure and manpower necessary to control the availability of liquor.''

An officer with the Surat division of the commissionerate told Express Newsline that Prohibition and Excise Minister Fakirbhai Vaghela had chaired a meeting of senior police and commissionerate officials a couple of months ago to discuss precisely the issue of implementing the dry law.

``We told the minister that we had no PASA arrest powers or offices and inadequate staff and vehicles. And most importantly, the police were not co-operating with us'', the officer said, adding that they had told him that unless they were provided soon, there was no point in continuing with the force.

Senior police officials, while speaking to Express Newsline, confirmed that there was friction between the prohibition police and their department over a number of issues, including the payoffs made by the liquor mafia and local bootleggars.

According to a senior officer, the creation of the prohibition commissionerate, in fact, had actually caused corruption to increase, as bootleggars now had to grease palms of both forces (the police are still authorised to raid bootleggers).

A prohibition commissionerate officer, on the other hand, alleged, ``It is policemen who are encouraging the liqour trade by not arresting listed criminals under the PASA.''

``They aren't even providing us wireless services or woman constables, '' he added.

According to sources, though the prohibition and excise minister had promised to consider all options before taking a final decision on the standoff, the longer the decision takes in coming, the more murky will the relations between the two forces become.