District Magistrate R M Shah, on the recommendations of the District Superintendent of Police B D Vaghela, on Wednesday issued the arrest orders and a police team, headed by Palsana PSI K M Desai, have left with Hanif to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, where he is to be lodged.

According to the police, the accused had spread his liquor trade across many talukas of the district, besides being involved in other serious crimes.

Hanif, who was declared an absconder in a number of prohibition cases registered in the police stations of Mahuva, Mangrol, Bardoli, Palsana and Mandvi, was arrested by a special team comprising police officials of he district, Local Crime Branch and the prohibition police from Gangadhara village located in the Palsana police station limit.

The Prohibition and Palsana police seized 17,660 bottles of liquor worth Rs 8.94 lakh from his possession and have also confiscated six vehicles used in transporting liquor, including a Maruti van, a Maruti 800, a tempo and other three-wheelers.

Hanif had built up a vast network of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) trade and smuggled liquor into the district from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Daman and Maharashtra, the police said. He was wanted in nine cases by the prohibition police and four cases by the district police.

In addition, the district police said, Hanif had managed to rope in unemployed youths and had resorted to extortion, threatening and rioting in and around Palsana.