Nigerian among three held with 770-gm heroin

MANSA: A special task force (STF) team from Bathinda and Mansa districts arrested three alleged drug peddlers, including a Nigerian, and seized around 770 gm of heroin from them here on Sunday .

Addressing a press conference, STF in-charge, Bathinda range, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Harendra Singh Mann, said that, based on a secret information, two accused from Fatehabad district (in Haryana), identified as Karanveer Sain and Ajay Kumar, both in theri 20s, were arrested in Sardulgarh with 20 gm of heroin, which was to be delivered to their clients. “When we interrogated these two accused, they led us to the Nigerian national, identified as Emanuel alias Godwin, in his 30s, who worked in New Delhi at an African canteen. We recovered around 750gm of heroin from his residence in Dwarka,” said the DSP.

MODUS OPERANDI

The police said that the Nigerian national and his co-accused used to fix the deal in a coded language.

“Despite the language barrier, the Emanuel used to communicate in code words with his clients. The consignment was addressed as ‘demand’ and the meeting would take place at designated pillars near the metro station,” said Sukhjit Singh, heading the Mansa STF team. The police are also looking for another accused from Delhi, who was an acquaintance of Emanuel.

“Emanuel has named someone as ‘Classic’, who assisted him in drug-peddling,” said Sukhjit. The cops will investigate the visa and passport details of Emanuel to ascertain his travel details.

LANGUAGE BARRIER STONEWALLS PROBE

The police are facing difficulty in investigating Emanuel due to the language barrier. “It is difficult to interpret his (Emanuel) statements. Most of the time, we are not able to understand the names and locations he tells us,” said a policeman, who is part of the investigating team.

DSP Mann said that the department has got qualified officers and now there will no problem in interpreting the information given by the accused.

TWO ACCUSED, IDENTIFIED AS KARANVEER SAIN AND AJAY KUMAR, BOTH IN THEIR 20S, ARE FROM HARYANA’S FATEHABAD DISTRICT