Kingpin behind Veraval drug bust also named in Morbi drugs case
Updated: Feb 25th, 2024
Updated on Feb 25, at 7.15 p.m.
The Special Operations Group (SOG) undertook the operation to seize the perpetrators behind the ₹350 cr drug bust in Veraval port.
The prime accused in this case, Ishak alias Mama, is also booked in another case from Morbi’s Zinzuda village, where a ₹600 cr consignment was seized by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS).
Speculations are made about Ishak’s drug empire being one of the largest in India, said sources close to the Gir Somnath police, probing the Morbi drug bust.
Court approves 13-day remand
The SOG, probing the Morbi drug case, had presented the three accused before the Veraval court on Feb 24 with a request for their 14-day remand over the possibility of anti-national activities being carried out. Against this, their 13-day remand was approved by the court.
The SOG has named seven in this case, including Ishak, Baloch, the three accused apprehended, and an unidentified person from Rajkot.
An accused nabbed in this case, Dharmen Kashyap Tandel, was found to be operating under the direction of Murtaza Baloch.
Baloch also provided him with the satellite phone confiscated by the police.
Modus operandi
Baloch instructed Kashyap to keep the consignment in a car arranged by him at the port. He kept one of the two parcels in the car and put up the condition of only sending the second parcel after his fees of ₹50,000 were paid.
Kashyap dispatched a parcel in the car while hiding the other one under a boat, reiterating his condition to Baloch regarding the payment.
Updated on Feb 23, at 4.14 p.m.
Gujarat minister of state (MoS) for home Harsh Sanghavi today said that police has seized 50 kilograms of heroin valued at ₹350 cr from Naliya Goli shores at the Veraval Port and arrested at least nine accused regarding the case.
He said that the raids were jointly conducted by the Special Operation Group and the narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS) teams.
“Police raided Naliya Goli shore of Veraval Port and seized 50 kg sealed packets of heroin valued at ₹350 crore. Nine accused, including three main accused, have also been arrested,” Sanghavi wrote on X.
An official said that among the seized items were a boat, a satellite phone, and a vehicle, indicating the sophisticated methods employed by the traffickers to smuggle narcotics into the country.
He said that the tip-off was received from an alert fishing boat owner, suggesting that the heroin was being transported from Iran.
The police identified Murtuza Baloch as accused who had sent the consignment while Ishak alias Mama was responsible for its delivery in Rajkot.
Additionally, Asif alias Kara Jusab Sama from Jamnagar, along with another Jamnagar resident, Arbaz Meman, and Dharmendra Kashyap, were among those apprehended in the case.
(Source: IANS)
- Edited for style
