The Bhandup police on Saturday made another arrest in the hooch racket that was exposed earlier this month when a car carrying 1,040 litres of illicit liquor made in Bhiwandi lost control and ran over a senior citizen on May 9. The driver of the car, Arumugam Mudaliar, who was arrested, was allegedly taking the hooch to Sion Koliwada.
According to the Bhandup police, the accused arrested on Saturday morning has been identified as Ganesh Swami, 40, a resident of Sion Koliwada. They said he was heading the transport part of the racket, and are now interrogating him to find out identities and whereabouts of others involved. Swami was produced in court and was remanded in police custody.
“Swami has contacts among drivers for hire and would arrange the hooch to be picked up from Bhiwandi and brought to the city. The gang used different drivers for every run to avoid detection, and it was Swami’s job to arrange for vehicles and drivers. He was like a partner in the racket and would an equal share of the profits,” an officer with Bhandup police said.
Police said Swami was known in the area for providing driving jobs and was regularly approached by several drivers. He would allegedly screen each driver before offering him a hooch run, the police said.
“Mudaliar had approached Swami last month saying that he wanted to go to Tirupati on a pilgrimage and needed money quickly. Swami told him he had a job which could be dangerous, but the profits would be substantial if he did the job two to three times over a month,” another officer at Bhandup police station said.
