Delivery boy arrested for illegally selling liquor

The police arrested a 29-year-old man who illegally sold liquor to customers ordering food for four times more than the retail price, making the most of the lockdown situation.

The police stopped the man, who used his friend’s log-in credentials on a food delivery app, suspecting his movements and found three packets of 90 ml whisky in his delivery bag.

In his complaint, Bhimashankar Gumte (28), a sub-inspector at the Bandepalya police station, said he was on duty at Somasandrapalya with two constables on April 7.

At 7 pm, they found the movement of a delivery boy suspicious. He was riding a bike wearing the t-shirt of one brand and carried the travel bag bearing another name. They stopped the bike and questioned the delivery person, who revealed his name as Jaipal, a resident of Doddathoguru.

Jaipal told the police he logged into an online food delivery service using his friend Ajay Kumar’s credentials and began delivering food. Partnering with another friend, identified as Raju, Jaipal stocked up liquor in their house during the early days of the lockdown, anticipating the closure of liquor shops and the surging demand.

While contacting those ordering food through the delivery app, Jaipal would tell them that they also deliver liquor. If the customer showed interest, he would deliver liquor charging four times more than the MRP rate. Jaipal was caught when he was carrying liquor to one such customer.

“When we checked his bag, we found three tetra packets of 90 ml Haywards Punch whisky. On detailed questioning, he confessed to selling the liquor packets illegally,” said an investigating officer.

Jaipal has been arrested under the Karnataka Excise Act for violating the prohibitory orders.