Camel caravan caught smuggling liquor into Delhi, 5 men arrested

Police seized nearly 2,000 bottles and 24 beer bottles; the camels, treated as evidence, have been moved to a shelter until a court decides their fate.

Minutes before midnight on Thursday, a Delhi Police team lying in wait for criminals in Sangam Vihar stumbled upon a surreal sight -- three camels, each laden with heavy loads, plodding silently through the dense forest. What seemed like a lost desert caravan turned out to be an audacious bootlegging operation: more than 2,000 bottles of illegal liquor being smuggled into the Capital on camelback.

Bootleggers used three camels bought from Alwar to ferry liquor through a forest corridor, evading checkpoints until cops intercepted the bizarre midnight caravan. (ANI)

The bizarre bust exposed a new tactic deployed by liquor traffickers in the past year to outsmart police surveillance. Officers from the south district’s anti-auto theft squad (AATS) intercepted the caravan and discovered cartons of liquor strapped to the animals.

Three handlers were caught on the spot, while interrogation later led to two more arrests, officials said.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Ankit Chauhan said a total of 42 cartons containing 1,990 liquor bottles and 24 beer bottles were seized, along with the camels that carried them.

The arrested men were identified as Vinod Bhadana, 48, and Sunil Bhadana, 38, both from Anangpur in Faridabad; Rahul, 22, and Ajay, 25, from Sangam Vihar; and Saurabh, 26, from Badaun, Uttar Pradesh. Vinod and Sunil, owners of the camels, allegedly masterminded the scheme.

“With intensified checking on Delhi borders and frequent busts of bootleggers, the accused devised an unorthodox method,” said DCP Chauhan. “They purchased camels from Rajasthan’s Alwar for ₹60,000 to ₹80,000 each and used them to transport liquor across nearly six kilometres of forest at night, avoiding checkpoints and blending into the terrain.”

The three camels, initially taken to Neb Sarai police station, became a spectacle in themselves. As news of their seizure spread, children and residents gathered at the station to see the animals, which were fed and watered before being shifted to a shelter in Civil Lines with the help of camel trainers.

The men were booked under sections 33 and 38 of the Delhi Excise Act for liquor smuggling and section 11 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Police said the camels, considered key evidence, will remain at the shelter until the court decides what to do with the beasts.

Investigators said the syndicate’s innovation was born out of lack of options. Traditional trafficking routes using cars and trucks had become too risky amid heightened police vigilance.

A year ago, Vinod and Sunil bought their first camel for ₹60,000 and tested the method successfully, investigators said. Encouraged, they purchased two more -- one for ₹72,000 and another for ₹80,000 -- in the past six months.

“They exploited the six-kilometre forest corridor between Anangpur village near the Faridabad-Delhi border and Sangam Vihar’s L-block,” an investigator said. “The camels walked for nearly two hours at night, carrying the liquor quietly. Once in Sangam Vihar, the cartons were unloaded and shifted to houses on motorcycles.”

The group, during interrogation, told police they had been running the operation for nearly a year, smuggling liquor from Haryana into the Capital, where demand and profits were higher. Their arrest, officers said, underscores both the ingenuity of traffickers and the lengths to which they will go to evade detection.