Cops intercept van, seize 5,000 quarters

NEW DELHI: Continuing the crackdown on liquor smugglers and bootleggers in South-east Delhi, the Delhi police arrested a bootlegger and intercepted a van carrying 100 cartons containing 5,000 quarter bottles of country liquor for sale in Haryana only.

The arrested accused was identified as Raj Kumar (32), a resident of Khyala, Delhi. In 2012, along with his three other friends, he was arrested in a murder case in Ranhola and acquitted by the court and released from jail in the year 2017.

 According to the police, following a tip off regarding delivery of liquor near Jungpura railway crossing, Lajpat Nagar, the police laid a trap near the spot.

On Monday morning, a  Tata delivery van was seen coming and the police intercepted the vehicle and overpowered the van driver.

“Detailed search of the van yielded 100 cartons of Rasila Santra Masaledar Sharab ‘For Sale in Haryana Only’ comprising 5000 quarters of liquor were recovered.

In the subsequent interrogation, the accused revealed that demand for liquor rises in the city. in the run up to the Holi festival and during Holi, especially among the labour class.

Incidence of bootlegging also goes up during this period due to high sales and profit. Therefore, in view of the upcoming Holi festival, the accused purchased a huge consignment of country liquor from Gurgaon, which would have been being transported to sold to bootleggers in Delhi had not the police caught it.

“The accused said that he used lanes and bylanes of the city to smuggle liquor during the early morning hours,” said Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police, southeast said