Punjab, considered the main playground for national- and mid-level drug distributors in India, is now the focus of the investigating team probing the Mundra port drug seizure case.
According to sources, after filing the charge sheet against the 16 accused, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is now focusing on Punjab, claiming that further investigation could reveal the involvement of “big fish” from the state.
According to an NIA official who played a key role in the investigation, there are three key players involved in smuggling drugs into Punjab – an Afghanistani gang, Hawala traders and drug mafia for whom Mundra port is the transit point.
“Even after arresting the 16 accused, the probe is on. Now, we are focusing on purchasers and suppliers who were supposed to sell drugs to end users. Our investigation will focus on Punjab, as it is suspected that the state was the epicentre of this consignment,” a senior NIA official told News18.
When asked about the network, the investigator said, “A group of Afghan Nationals were the main players who used to crack deals with Afghan-based drug dealers. The group also had a network of Hawala traders who were based in north and central Delhi and were responsible to send money to Afghanistan. The group also had network of local drug mafias who used to transport and distribute heroin to small-level drug peddlers. The arrested Iranian national, Javed Najafi, was the facilitator to help the network get the consignment cleared from Iran port,” the official said.
Sources claimed that these Hawala traders were in contact with Pakistan-based terror outfits as well.
Sources also told News18 that the accused told the investigators that they used to hire a warehouse to keep the heroin for a few days before sending it to Punjab.
“It has been found that a major part of the consignment was supposed to be sent to Punjab and recovery has also been made from the state. Our further investigation is based on leads, which will soon take us to the key players based in Punjab,” sources said.
The NIA is still on the lookout for Kuldeep Singh, the key player in the joint interrogation report.
According to the joint interrogation report, Rajkumar introduced M Sudhakar and his wife, Durga Vaishali, who allegedly ran Vijayawada-registered M/S Aashi Trading Company, which had imported the consignment claiming it contained “semi-processed talc stones” and sent it to Najafi. Najafi, in turn, introduced Sudhakar to Afghan drug dealer Hassan Hussain, who sent the consignments to India. A WhatsApp group was created among these men to assist in the drug import.
The first consignment in June reportedly originated in Iran and was successfully delivered to Kuldeep Singh after he helped Sudhakar arrange the money to get it out of the port. The cargo was declared as semi-processed talc. It was shipped into India by Hassan Hussain Company Ltd. and was routed through Bandar Abbas Port in Iran to Gujarat’s Mundra Port, where Najafi allegedly handled it, the report said.
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