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.
The Afghan nationals have been identified as Kabul resident Mustafa and Kandahar resident Rahimulla Rahim. Both the accused have refugee visas. The official said that they were caught on September 3 from Delhi's Kalindi Kunj area following a tip off that they were coming to Delhi by car. Following their interrogation the police conducted a raid at Noida and recovered more heroin and narcotics.
Judge B.K. Komala has given clear directions that accused seer should not be taken to anywhere during police custody, ruling out any possibility of shifting him to Bengaluru hospital. The police had sought 5 days' custody of the accused seer for investigation.
Last week, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, while extending a red carpet welcome to industrialists and entrepreneurs to invest in Punjab, said the state would emerge as industrial hub of the country.
The SAD chief told the media here that the party would stick to its core principles, including the need for a true federal structure, taking all sections of society and people from all religious faiths with it. He said SAD, the oldest regional party with a 102-year-old track record, would continue to rise to serve the regional aspirations of people of Punjab.
Police have also recovered a cache of 55 pistols of .32 bore and .30 bore from their possession. The accused were apprehended from Madhya Pradesh by the Counter Intelligence unit of Punjab Police with the help of its counterparts in Madhya Pradesh.
Lingayat seer Dr Murugha Shivamurthy Sharanaru, accused of raping minor girls, was finally taken into custody by the Karnataka Police on Thursday night - six days after the FIR against him was lodged. Police sources said the accused seer will be produced before a court on Friday.
