2 bootleggers held, illicit liquor seized

New Delhi: After all private liquor shops closed down in Delhi, cops arrested two bootleggers and recovered 407 quarters of illicit liquor from them on Friday — the second instance of smuggling reported since October 1.

Police identified them as Radhe Shyam and Rinki. While Radhe Shyam was arrested from Aali village of South-East Delhi, the other Rinki was from the Sarai Kale Khan area. Cops nabbed both of them during patrolling and according to an official statement, they observed some suspicious activities in them and they tried to escape. 300 quarters of illicit liquor in the aggregate bearing mark "for sale in Haryana only" have been recovered from Radhe Shyam and 107 quarters with the mark from Rinki.

During the interrogation both the accused confirmed that to earn quick money, they started bringing liquor from Haryana border areas at lower rates to sell them in Delhi at higher prices.

Rinki was previously involved in one case of the Excise Act, Esha Pandey, South-East District confirmed.

As per the New Excise Policy, all private liquor shops are closed from October 1, 2021. Whereas only state government-run liquor outlets will continue retail sales till November 16. And after that new players who have got the license through open bidding will operate the 850 liquor shops in the national capital from November 17 onwards.