Liquor smuggled in ambulance; three held in Malviya Nagar

Parminder Yadav, Rakesh and Jitender, all in the age group of 25 to 26, were nabbed after a trap was laid at Shivalik Road at 2 am, after police received information that an ambulance loaded with liquor would be driving down the stretch. Yadav and Rakesh live in Gurgaon, while Jitender resides in Mewat District in Haryana.

“At around 2.30 am, a white Maruti Omni van-turned-ambulance drove down from Geetanjali side honking its klaxon and flashing the beacon light to seek clear passage. The vehicle was signaled to stop for checking,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Chhaya Sharma.

The driver of the ambulance, instead of stopping the vehicle, tried to drive off, but was compelled to stop due to the barricades set up.

The driver was identified as Yadav, while Rakesh was lying down on the stretcher pretending to be a patient and Jitender sat in rear posting as the attendant of the patient. The police also recovered 11 cartons of ‘Desi Masaledar Sarab’ and 10 cartons of Besto Whisky  from the ambulance.

During interrogation, Yadav told police that he was not making enough money by using the vehicle as an ambulance in the hospital of a private doctor, B V Kapoor, in Gurgaon, and started supplying illicit liquor with his accomplices around eight months ago to earn more.

“Parminder used to procure liquor from Gurgaon and supply it in various resettlement colonies in Delhi. At night, he and his associates would drive into Delhi with the ambulance loaded with liquor. They used to honk the pressure horn and flash the beacon lights to hoodwink police into thinking it was an ambulance transporting a patient who was in critical situation and thus escaping scrutiny,” Sharma said.

The police have seized the ambulance and filed a case under section 33 of the Delhi Excise Act.