Bootleggers on camels caught on city's border

Minutes before midnight on Thursday, a Delhi Police team lying in wait for criminals in Sangam Vihar stumbled upon a surreal sight -- three camels, each laden with heavy loads, plodding silently through the dense forest.

- Karn Pratap Singh

What seemed like a lost desert caravan turned out to be an audacious bootlegging operation: more than 2,000 bottles of illicit liquor being smuggled into the Capital on camelback.

The bizarre bust exposed a new tactic deployed by liquor traffickers in the past year to outsmart police surveillance. Officers from the south district's anti-auto theft squad (AATS) intercepted the caravan and discovered cartons of liquor strapped to the animals.

Three handlers were caught on the spot, while interrogation later led to two more arrests, officials said.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Ankit Chauhan said a total of 42 cartons containing 1,990 liquor bottles and 24 beer bottles were seized, along with the camels that carried them.