‘Kadhai’ drug smuggling racket has links in 3 other states: Police

POLICE COORDINATING WITH COUNTERPARTS IN UP, MP, WEST BENGAL TO NAB SUSPECTS, IDENTIFIED AS ALFAZ, GHANSHYAM, BELAL

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab police on Wednesday claimed to have unearthed “a major inter-state racket” in connection with an alleged drug-smuggling module busted three days ago in Jalandhar, and have named three men, operating from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal in the FIR.

Interrogation of the main accused, Canadian national Davinder Singh Nirwal alias Dev, who allegedly used to smuggle the drugs in ‘kadhai’ (cauldrons), had been remanded by the court to police custody and led to the network involving multiple suspects in various states, a spokesperson of the government said.

Now the state police are coordinating with counterparts in UP, MP and Bengal to nab the suspects, identified respectively as Alfaz, Ghanshyam and Belal.

It may here be recalled that Dev, a proclaimed offender wanted by both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), was arrested along with three associates by a joint team of the counter-intelligence wing and district police (Jalandhar Rural) for smuggling opium and “date rape drug” ketamine abroad by using courier service.

It is alleged that Dev and Ajit had flown to Kolkata from Delhi a few months ago to strike a deal for 15kg opium with supplier Belal.

Subsequently, Dev sent Ajit on his truck to Kolkata to bring the consignment to Punjab, to be divided between the two, according to the police.

Police have also questioned staff at a courier agency at Sheikha Bazaar, Jalandhar, which had been initially approached by the accused for smuggling the consignment out of India.

Their interrogation revealed that Ajit had brought seven cauldrons, in which the drugs were concealed, to their shop for sending to Canada on May 28.

Scientific investigations are also on to trace records of mobile phones seized from the accused.