MUMBAI, April 4: For the last 25 years, gullible people have been shelling out as much as Rs 5,000 per bottle of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) "blackmarketed" as "Scotch".You name it, the sellers have it: Johnnie Walker - Blue Label and Gold, Chivas Regal Premier Scotch, Black & White, Hennessey, Cutty Sark, Glen Deveron, Glen Moray and Laphroaig. The original labels, highly expensive - and entirely spurious!A special squad of Mumbai police today arrested the two men who set up the operation taking advantage of the Indian drinker's mentality: that the more expensive the liquor, the less spurious it could be and that whole bottles, as opposed to quarters, had to be genuine.An offence has been registered by the Gamdevi Police Station and the two accused have been identified as Premji Bhurala Nishar and Suresh.Their modus operandi was simple. The two would secure the original caskets, sometimes from five star hotels which use and discard their bottles, and fill it up with IMFL.The racket wasnot limited to premium brand Scotch alone. Other brands ranged from Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey to Stolichnaya Russian Vodka and even Champagne Cognacs by Remy Martin and Martell.The bottles with fake liquor found their way through some customs notified outlets and shady bars in the city, although a bulk of the stock was marketed in dry states like Gujarat, said the police."Investigations have revealed that some of the fake liquor has even been sold in some of the city's five star hotels," said assistant inspector of police Praful Bhosale. "The empty bottles which were sold were refilled and returned to these hotels," he added.The zonal deputy commissioner of police Param Bir Singh said his team was acting on a tip-off which they received two months ago. A close watch was kept on the dingy Promise Bottle Mart located on the busy Kemps Corner Junction in South Mumbai. "This morning we sent in a bogus customer posing as a bootlegger from Gujarat. The two accused were nabbed red-handed while deliveringthe consignment of blackmarketed liquor," Singh said.Investigations have revealed that the imitation was based on prior orders. Empty Scotch bottles of particular brands were procured from known "kabadiwallas" for Rs 15-25. These bottles were then filled with IMFL brands like Officer's Choice, Bagpiper, Diplomat, Aristocrat and a host of other common brands.Accused Premji Nishar later said it required skill to blend the whiskey and make it taste like Scotch. Sometimes more than two IMFL brands were mixed and some colours added to give it the real look, Nishar said."While there was great demand for Johnnie Walker Black Label and Chivas Regal Premier Scotch, it was Johnnie Walker Blue Label which fetched around Rs 5600. The other brands ranged between Rs 1500 and Rs 2500," said Nishar.During interrogation, the accused told the police that most of the illicit consignment was transported by couriers. The labels, seals and corks were procured from a source in New Delhi through some private couriers,the police revealed.
