New Delhi, Aug 25: Prompt action by the staff of Delhi’s Hauz Qazi police station led to the arrest of a 20-year-old man on Tuesday and the recovery of 200 quarters of illicit country-made liquor being transported for illegal sale in the national capital.

The police also seized a grey-coloured scooty used for transporting the liquor. A case under the relevant provisions of the Delhi Excise Act has been registered, and further investigation is underway.

According to police, the incident took place on August 24 at around 10.30 p.m., when staff of PS Hauz Qazi were conducting routine patrolling in the area of Lal Kuan Road near Farashkhana Road.

During the patrolling, the police team noticed a person on a scooty coming from the Lal Kuan side. On spotting the police personnel, the rider suddenly turned the vehicle around and started moving in the opposite direction, raising suspicion.

The police team immediately followed and intercepted the scooty. During the subsequent checking, a heavy white plastic bag was found placed on the vehicle. The rider allegedly failed to provide any satisfactory explanation regarding the contents of the bag.

Upon checking the bag, the police recovered 200 quarters of country-made liquor, each containing 180 ml. The bottles were bearing the label, “For Sale in Haryana Only”.

The rider was identified as Akash, a resident of Burari in Delhi, aged about 20 years. The recovered liquor was taken into possession in accordance with the law, while the scooty used for its transportation was also seized.

Accordingly, FIR No. 389/26 under Sections 33 and 38 of the Delhi Excise Act was registered at PS Hauz Qazi, and further investigation was initiated.

The recovery was made by a police team comprising SI Ranvijay Singh, In-charge of Police Post Rodgran, Head Constable Paramveer, and Constable Daya Chand. The operation was carried out under the leadership of Inspector Amrender Kumar Suman, SHO of PS Hauz Qazi, and under the overall supervision of Rajiv Bhardwaj, ACP, Kamla Market.

Police said the alertness and prompt response of the patrolling team led to the interception of the accused and the recovery of a substantial quantity of illicit liquor. The seizure of the scooty allegedly used for transportation has further strengthened the investigation into the illegal transportation and supply of liquor.

During interrogation, Akash disclosed that he used to procure illicit liquor from areas near the Haryana border and subsequently supply it in and around the Sadar area of Delhi to earn money and meet his personal expenses.

The accused was further questioned about the source of the recovered liquor and the persons allegedly involved in its procurement and supply. Police said efforts are underway to identify the source and ascertain whether other persons are involved in the illegal liquor supply network.

Police records revealed that Akash, son of Pappu, was previously involved in an Excise Act case registered at PS Burari. He was named in FIR No. 254/25 under Sections 33 and 38 of the Delhi Excise Act.

Further investigation is in progress.

Panaji, Aug 25: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested two men under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for operating a massive cyber-fraud network that defrauded victims through fake “digital arrests” and laundered proceeds into foreign currency, the agency said on Monday.

The ED produced the accused, identified as Fahim Moin Hussain Sayed and Naim Mueen Sayyed, before the Special PMLA Court in Goa on Monday, securing five days of custody until August 29.

The accused were arrested on Sunday following a complaint by a woman victim in North Goa, the agency said in a statement.

The money laundering probe stems from an FIR registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, North Goa.

A local resident suffered a loss of Rs 2.60 crore after fraudsters placed her under continuous video call surveillance under the guise of a “digital arrest” and coerced her into transferring funds into fraudulent “secret supervision accounts” between May 21 and June 2 this year.

Investigating officers discovered the money entered an organised apparatus designed to convert cyber-fraud proceeds into cash and foreign currency through RBI-licensed full fledged money changers.

The victim’s money was routed within hours through an initial layer of dormant and newly opened bank accounts before being dispersed among more than 400 beneficiary accounts through transfers, cash withdrawals, self-cheques and payment gateways.

The trail then extended to an interconnected network of commodity, trading, travel and foreign-exchange entities, the ED said.

The agency said that the trail exposed an interconnected network of trading, travel, and foreign-exchange entities that recorded banking transactions exceeding Rs 27,850 crore. This network deposited Rs 2,904 crore in cash, including Rs 584.70 crore deposited via 61,448 separate transactions at bulk note acceptance machines.

The bank accounts of these dummy entities link to 163 FIRs and 330 complaints across 20 states and Union Territories, representing total reported victim losses of Rs 417.49 crore.

In 101 of these complaints, funds belonging to a single victim were routed to two or more entities within the same group during the same fraud, indicating that the accounts functioned as a common pool rather than as independent businesses.

The syndicate incorporated companies using names of drivers and employees living in single-room tenements to act as dummy directors while controlling the operations externally.

The ED conducted searches across 20 premises in Mumbai and Goa on July 17 and August 21 and yielded Rs 3.25 crore in cash and froze bank balances exceeding Rs 30 crore. The agency also seized digital devices, books of account, records and statutory registers, which are currently under examination.

Kolkata, Aug 25: The West Bengal Police on Tuesday said four persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker in Baruipur in South 24 Parganas district.

Baruipur Police District officials arrested the accused for allegedly murdering Bapi Pramanik, who was reportedly killed over an old enmity on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

Among those arrested is Sujan Mondal, an erstwhile local BJP leader who was recently suspended from the party for alleged anti-party and immoral activities. The other arrested persons have been identified as Krishna Mondal, Kanak Mondal and Anil Naiya. All four are expected to be produced before a district court later on Tuesday, where the public prosecutor is likely to seek their police custody.

According to Pramanik’s family members, Pramanik received a phone call on Sunday night asking him to come outside his house. After he stepped out, he was allegedly attacked and hacked to death.

The murder is suspected to have stemmed from rivalry between two groups within the local organisation, the police said. Mondal had been named by Pramanik’s family as the alleged mastermind behind the killing. A family member also claimed that Mondal was present at the spot when Pramanik was allegedly attacked by his associates.

The police registered an FIR at Baruipur police station based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s family.

Krishna Mondal, Kanak Mondal and Anil Naiya were initially detained and questioned by investigators on Monday afternoon. Based on information gathered during the interrogation, the three detained persons and Sujan Mondal were subsequently arrested.

“Investigators are probing the exact reasons behind Bapi’s murder and the role played by each accused in the crime,” a Baruipur Police District official said.

BJP district leaders, including former organisational district president Uttam Kar, have clarified that Sujan Mondal had been suspended from the party some time ago.

Kar alleged that a group of miscreants associated with the Trinamool Congress was behind Pramanik’s murder. He claimed that during the previous Trinamool Congress government, Pramanik had been forced to leave his home and live elsewhere for nearly 10 years because of his association with the BJP.

According to Kar, Pramanik returned home only after the West Bengal Assembly elections held earlier this year.