3 arrested for selling illegal liquor after their buffaloes get drunk in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Three farmers in Gujarat have been arrested for selling illegal alcohol after their own buffaloes got drunk on the hooch, the police said.

One of the accused had called a local veterinarian after their buffaloes starting to "act strangely and their mouths started frothing", police official Dilipsinh Baldev said.

The vet then inspected the water trough that the animals had been drinking from and "observed a strange smell and found the water to be coloured".

This, it turned out, was because the men had hidden bottles of moonshine (illicit alcohol) in the trough and some of them had broken, contaminating the water.

The vet then informed the police, who raided the farm on Monday and recovered 100 bottles of alcohol worth ₹ 32,000.

The three farmers were arrested.

In Gujarat -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state -- making, buying, selling or transporting alcohol is outlawed, punishable by hefty fines and even prison sentences.