Sold liquor online, now in police net

A gang of high-profile bootleggers delivered high-end duty free liquor labels to customers created through social networking sites — Facebook and Orkut, reports HT Correspondent.

They gave a new meaning to social networking.

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A gang of high-profile bootleggers delivered high-end duty free liquor labels to customers created through social networking sites — Facebook and Orkut.

Police said the gang’s kingpin, a resident of Sainik Farms, is absconding. Raids were on to arrest him, the police said.

Police said the gang made a profit of Rs 500-600 per bottle by evading excise duty.

Mostly operating in South Delhi, the gang had even taken a flat in Saket on rent to stock liquor, police said.

Besides 294 bottles of different brands of liquor and 400 cans of beer, the police also recovered three cars— a Maruti Esteem, an Ambassador and an Indica car which were used to ferry the bottles.

The brands recovered from the accused were Johnnie Walker Black Label, Gold Label, Red Label, Blue Label, Belvedere Vodka, Baileys Irish Cream, Tequila, Moet et Chandon, Jack Daniel Whiskey, Dragon Seal Wine, etc.

A joint team of south Delhi police and the Delhi Excise Department arrested three men, identified as Samuel Vincent Nathan (38), Ravinder Singh (38), Manoj Kumar Gupta (25), from Munirka in south Delhi on Wednesday night.

Police said the main accused, Arjun Dhull, had created a community called ‘Whisky on Wheels’ on Orkut and Facebook.

The Facebook profile of the gang has 1,488 members.

Dhull was also arrested last year in November, the police said.

“The accused did not supply liquor to everyone. It was a closed group and customers had to place their orders on the networking site,” said HGS Dhaliwal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (south).

“Once they had got the number and address of the customer, they delivered at their doorstep.”

Police said the gang procured liquors from “petty dealers” in Karol Bagh who got high-end brands from various duty free shops at airports.

“These dealers were in touch with flyers who regularly go abroad. After paying them a cut, the gang used to get liquor from the dealers,” said a senior police officer.

“They used to sell them further to their dedicated customers.”

The police said further investigations in the case were on.