New Delhi, April 5 (IANS) The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Wednesday sezied 1970 grams cocaine in Mumbai and arrested three persons including an African national in this regard.
"Based on the intelligence gathered by DRI, one male passenger (35), who arrived from Addis Ababa to Mumbai at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on April 4, was intercepted. Examination of the luggage of the passenger resulted into recovery of 1970 grams of white powder (cocaine) with an illicit market value of Rs 20 crore," an official said.
The official said that further to identify other members of the drug syndicate, the officers laid a trap and apprehended the recipient of the said contraband drugs.
The recipient came from Hyderabad to Mumbai to collect the drugs. This person was further supposed to deliver the drugs to an African person in Navi Mumbai.
"Efforts were made to identify and intercept the African person who appeared to be a key member of the drug syndicate. Another trap was laid in Navi Mumbai to intercept him and the culprit was successfully nabbed," the official said.
The DRI said that total three persons were arrested under the provisions of NDPS Act. Further investigation in the matter is on.
Sidhu has urged the apex court not to punish him with a jail term in a 1988 road rage case in which he was let off with a meagre fine of Rs 1,000. Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, representing Gurnam Singh's family, submitted that he has moved an application seeking enlargement of the scope of the notice issued.
With Ukraine closing its airspace after Russia launched a military operation in the country on Thursday, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has asked the Indian nationals to start moving towards the bordering areas so that they can be evacuated safely.
The Indian Embassy in Kiev stated that the helpline numbers are being set up at the respective check-points to facilitate evacuation through the borders. These control rooms will be based in Poland, Romania and Hungary and they will be managed by the Indian officials posted in those countries.
On Thursday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Jaishankar has spoken to concerned officials in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia for setting up camps on the border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals.
An official spokesperson said the affected people or their relatives could call from within Punjab on helpline number 1100 and others from outside India on +91-172-4111905 for seeking information in this regard.
