Camels turn couriers for bootleggers; Delhi Police foils liquor run, 5 held

The arrests were made on Thursday night, after the Anti Auto Theft Squad (AATS) of South district received specific information about bootleggers transporting liquor from Faridabad to Sangam Vihar using camels.

New Delhi: The desert animal often associated with Rajasthan's sand dunes found itself caught up in a Delhi Police crackdown on bootlegging. Three camels were rescued after their owners allegedly used them to transport illicit liquor through forest tracks into the national capital, officials said on Friday.

"The gang opted for camels because vehicles could be identified and intercepted quickly, while the slow-moving animals could pass through forest patches silently, avoiding suspicion," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan told a press conference here.

He further said camels can tread through the forest without making noise and unlike four-wheelers or two-wheelers, they do not even need roads.

"The accused tried to exploit this advantage, hoping to smuggle illicit liquor into Delhi undetected," the DCP said.

Police arrested five men during the operation Faridabad-based Vinod Bhadana (48), Sunil Bhadana (38), the owners of the camels, Rahul (22), Ajay (25) and Saurabh (26) and seized 42 cartons containing 1,990 quarter bottles of illicit liquor, 24 beer bottles and three camels.

"Acting on the input, a team laid a trap in the forest belt of Sangam Vihar. Around midnight, the police spotted the camels laden with suspicious-looking cartons and intercepted the men handling them," the DCP said, adding that all five were apprehended on the spot and the liquor consignment was seized.

The rescued camels will be handed over to animal-welfare agencies, in coordination with the authorities concerned, the officer said.

Sharing this unusual modus operandi, Chauhan said the gang adopted this unconventional method after increased police vigilance along Delhi's inter-state borders made it difficult to smuggle liquor through cars, scooters or auto-rickshaws.

"Vehicles are easily stopped and checked at checkpoints. Camels, on the other hand, can quietly pass through non-motorable paths inside the forest, away from the eyes of enforcement agencies," the DCP explained.

The bootleggers also believed that camel movement at night would not arouse suspicion in rural-forest fringes, where such animals are occasionally seen.

"During interrogation, the accused admitted that the technique was deliberate and planned to beat the Delhi Police's excise-enforcement drives," Chauhan said.

He said Ajay (25) from Sangam Vihar has 11 previous cases, including for theft and excise violations, lodged against him across Neb Sarai, Lajpat Nagar and Crime Branch jurisdictions. Rahul, also from Sangam Vihar, is involved in multiple excise cases and thefts. Sunil and Vinod, both residents of Faridabad, have past cases under the Delhi Excise Act. Saurabh, 26, hails from Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district and had joined the racket recently.