Mundra port seizure: NIA says money generated via Afghan heroin was for LeT
Funds generated through the sale proceeds of Afghan heroin smuggled to India via maritime route were provided to the operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for carrying out terror activities, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Monday in its third charge sheet filed in Mundra port drug haul case.
Harpreet Singh alias Kabir Talwar, owner of popular nightclubs in Delhi including White Club (earlier known as Playboy), Jazbaa, and RSVP, who was arrested in August last year, travelled to Dubai for exploiting commercial trade route to smuggle Afghan heroin to India and was using his companies for receiving the contraband and remittances, the agency has said.
The agency filed its second supplementary charge sheet against 22 individuals and companies including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir-based operative Mohammad Iqbal Awan, Dubai-based Vityesh Koser alias Raju Dubai and Talwar on Monday before a special court in Ahmedabad.
The NIA filed its first charge sheet in the case against 16 cartel members on March 14 and the second charge sheet against nine suspects on August 29 last year.
A consignment weighing 2,988 kgs of Afghan heroin was seized at Mundra Port on September 13, 2021.
In a statement on Monday, NIA cited its investigation and added it has emerged that an organised network of syndicate members was being run by foreign-based narcotic traders for importing heroin-laden consignments into Indian Ports (Mundra, Kolkata), and its further delivery to various warehouses in New Delhi.
“The India-based network of Afghan nationals was responsible for hiring these warehouses and for processing/extracting and distributing the heroin once it reached New Delhi. [The] Investigation established that funds generated through the sale proceeds of heroin were provided to operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for [the] furtherance of terrorist activities in India.”
Others named in the fresh charge sheet on Monday include another Delhi businessman Prince Sharma, who was arrested along with Talwar last year, Ishwinder Singh from Panipat (Haryana), and Jasbir Singh from Tilak Nagar in Delhi.
Afghan nationals Rah Matullah Kakar (a Kabul native who lived in South Delhi), Shaheenshah Zaheer (Kabul native residing in Noida), Faridoon Amani alias Javed Amani (Kabul), Abdul Salam Noorzai (Kabul), Mohammad Hussain Dad from Kandahar (Afghanistan), Mohammad Hasan Shah (Husain’s brother) have also been named.
Awan, who is from Uri in Jammu & Kashmir and resides in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, is among others named in the fresh charge sheet.
The ED said there was an organised criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal consignments of heroin through international trade routes to India from Afghanistan.
“While investigating forward and backward linkages of the crime, a well-oiled network of operatives involved in the import, facilitation, and transport of drug-laden consignments have been uncovered. It has also been revealed that consignments were being imported through multiple fake/shell import proprietorship firms floated in India through multiple accused,” the NIA statement said.
It called Talwar the “prime accused” and said he visited Dubai and wilfully participated in the conspiracy for exploiting the commercial sea route of import to smuggle heroin into India in commercial quantities. The NIA said he ran multiple trades in New Delhi, like clubs, retail showrooms, and import firms.
The agency said the firms were opened in the names of Talwar’s employees, relatives, and friends but were solely operated by him. “These firms were used for importing narcotics, banned items, and receiving remittances in form of legitimate goods in lieu of his role in the smuggling cartel. Over a dozen such firms have been identified and investigated, including the charge-sheeted firm, M/s Magent India. This company was used to import and receive heroin disguised as semi-processed talc stone from Afghanistan to India,” the NIA statement said.