Four held with 1,750 bottles of illicit liquor

NEW DELHI: In a first of its kind operation, a Delhi Police team has busted an entire supply chain of illicit liquor involving suppliers, receivers, and sellers. Four persons, including a father-son duo, have been arrested with 35 cartons containing 1,750 bottles of Haryana-made liquor smuggled into the capital.

One of the accused earlier worked in a film production company in Mumbai, police said.

Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police (southeast), said three cars – Fiat Punto, Maruti Esteem, and Maruti A-Star – that were being used for smuggling and storage of liquor bottles were seized from the arrested men. He said the alleged bootleggers used to park the cars filled with cartons containing liquor bottles in Okhla industrial areas to avoid police detection. Their clientele were mostly workers employed in various factories and offices in the industrial area.

On Sunday evening, Biswal said the beat staff were patrolling in the industrial area when they spotted three cars parked near an abandoned industry and a few men wandering in the area. The policemen became suspicious and hid themselves at locations from where they could keep a watch on the suspects.

“A few minutes later, four men began shifting some boxes from one car to the other two cars. When our beat staff approached them, the men tried to flee but were chased and caught,” said Biswal.