Court denies bail to IB official in bootlegging case

A Delhi court today denied bail to a Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer, arrested for allegedly smuggling imported liquor, saying the allegations levelled against him were serious and the probe was still on.
Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma dismissed the bail application moved by IB's assistant sub-inspector Narendra Kumar Sharma, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail here.
"Allegations against accused are serious in nature. The investigation is going in case. Accordingly, I hold that this is not a fit case for bail at this stage," the judge said.
While seeking the bail, the counsel appearing for the accused said he was not aware that what was stored in the room as he had only provided room.

"Only the room was provided by me (accused) for a few days. I was not aware what was stored in the room. There is no more allegation against me," advocate Ramesh Kumar Sharma, appearing for the accused, said.
He claimed his name was only mentioned in disclosure statement of co-accused Mukesh Dhingra, who was apprehended while smuggling liquor in a Mercedes car.

"My only fault is that I did not check what was stored in the room," the counsel said on behalf of Narendra.
The court had sent Narendra, along with Dhingra, to judicial custody on July 1 after both were produced from their two-day police custody since their arrest in the case.

According to the police, it had seized liquor worth Rs 50 lakh and Rs 15.5 lakh cash from them.
The agency said Sharma had given his government flat on rent to Dhingra, who had turned it into a liquor godown, and 1,207 bottles of different brands of imported liquor were seized from his home in RK Puram area.
"Mukesh Dhingra (48) was caught by a police team on specific input from Sector 5 of RK Puram area on June 28. A search of his Mercedes led to recovery of 33 bottles of beer, whiskey, wine and rum and Rs 4 lakh in cash," the police said, adding that information from Dhingra led the police to Sharma, who was arrested in a separate raid.