Instead of raiding liquor dens in the city, the police department is now targetting areas on the outskirts, reportedly the source of country liquor and the root-cause of the menace.

Not just that, bootleggers are now being arrested under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act -- instead of the usual Prohibition Act -- and packed off to jails straightaway to choke liquor supplies.

Stemming the rot, the hundreds of haathbhattis (small country-liquor manufacturing units) located along the sea coast at Khajod, Dumas, Sultanabad, Bhimpore, Mora, Variyav and Chhapra Bhata -- all on the outskirts of the city -- are now a prime target for the Prevention of Crime Branch (PCB), which of late seems to be functioning more like the prohibition department.

Talking to Express Newsline department sources said that instead of seizing country or a few bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from dens in the city, the police were now targeting those actually manufacturing or supplying liquor.

Even statistics substantiate this new trend. Of the 99 people arrested by the PCB under PASA from January 1, 1999 till date, 72 are bootleggers alone with most of them operating from the outskirts of the city. The remaining 27 comprise `dangerous' people and sex workers.

PCB police sub-inspector Vinay Shukla, while talking to Express Newsline, said that the department had specific instructions to clamp down on the sources of liquor than liquor dens. ``There are no liquor dens right inside the city and all the country liquor and IMFL sold here is from outside,'' he claimed, adding that ``the strategy is to choke up liquor supply to the city.''

Also until recently, all bootleggers arrested by the police were booked under the Prohibition Act. While all sections of this act are bailable, PASA, under which they are now being booked, is a non-bailable offence.

But department sources don't seem to be optimistic about the new strategy. Any brand of IMFL and country liquor was still available at Golwad and many other places in the city, they claimed, adding that liquor was still brought in by road and train, like a couple of recent episodes in trains have revealed.

What is however, slightly different this time round is that an attempt is being made, not to seize liquor, but to stop its flow. And PASA is definitely the best tool in this process.

Even insiders stated that certain bootleggers were being ``prepared for PASA arrests'' by registering a few cases against them. Once sufficient proof was available that a person was a habitual offender, PASA Act was invoked against him.