National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a second chargesheet in the Mundra Port narcotics seizure case.
The said consignment was sent from Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas, Iran. Initially, the case was registered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Unit- Gandhidham, Gujarat and re-registered by NIA on October 6, 2021, a release said.
NIA filed a chargesheet against 16 accused persons on March 14, 2022, and the first supplementary chargesheet against nine accused persons on August 28, 2022.
The supplementary chargesheet was filed today in the NIA Special Court, Ahmedabad, Gujarat under section 120B of the IPC, Sections 8(c), 21(c), 23(c), 29 of the NDPS Act, 1985 and Sections 17, 18 & 22C of the UA(P) Act, 1967 against 22 persons and firms.
During further investigation of the case, it was found that there is an organized criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal consignments of heroin through international trade routes to India from Afghanistan, hatched by the accused.
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 prime accused Harpreet Singh Talwar @ Kabir Talwar visited Dubai, UAE on multiple occasions and wilfully participated in the conspiracy to exploit the commercial sea route of import, in order to smuggle heroin into India in commercial quantities.
He runs multiple trades in New Delhi, like clubs, retail showrooms and import firms. These firms are opened by Kabir Talwar in the names of his employees, relatives and friends, which are solely operated by him.
These firms were used for importing narcotics, banned items and receiving remittances in the 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, Magent India. This company was used to import and receive heroin disguised as semi-processed talc stone from Afghanistan to India.
During the investigation, it emerged that foreign-based narcotic traders were running an organized network of syndicate members for importing the heroin-laden consignments into Indian Ports (Mundra, Kolkata) and its further delivery to various warehouses located in New Delhi.
The India-based network of Afghan nationals was responsible for hiring these warehouses and 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, the releases said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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