Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), Mar 31 (IANS): In a scene straight out of a Bollywood thriller, police in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli chased a gang of smugglers for nearly 125 km through jungles and seized a consignment of illicit liquor worth Rs 18 lakh, an official said here on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off that a huge consignment of alcoholic products was likely to be smuggled from Chandrapur to Gadchiroli - both "dry" districts, a team of Gadchiroli police Crime Branch laid a trap and waited for the smugglers.

Late on Wednesday night, a van carrying the liquor stocks was sighted on Haranghat Road where the police had already deployed a roadblock with barricades, and they signalled it to stop for a search.

However, instead of stopping, the van driver suddenly speeded up, rammed through the barricades, and fled and the police team immediately started a chase in their vehicles.

Trying to escape the law-enforcers, the van driver left the main roads to avoid traffic and kept zooming through the forests, small villages, and hamlets in the Charmorshi and Ashti regions.

However, the police teams did not give up and kept up the hot pursuit for nearly 125 km till the van driver and his accomplice stopped the vehicle near Sonapur village.

Taking cover of the darkness, they abandoned the van and fled into the thick forests, with the police still hounding them and soon catching up.

Finally, the police team managed to catch and pin down one suspect, Amit Barai, but van driver Rakesh Mashid gave them a slip in the darkness and a manhunt is on to track him down.

Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Neelotpal said that a search of the van revealed a large booty of the illicit liquor - 139 crates of Indian and 5 crates of imported spirits - totally valued at nearly Rs 18 lakh.

The Chamorshi police have arrested Barai and booked two other absconders - the van driver Mashid and Shankar Roy, and further investigations are on.