3 carriers held with 11 kg heroin, HM link suspected

Three men have been arrested for involvement with Hizbul Mujahideen’s narco-terrorism network exposed by Delhi Police in 2013.Sajjat, 40, Shafaat Hussain Shah, 45, and Mohammad Abdullah, 23, were held near the main gate of Tis Hazari court in central Delhi with 11 kg of heroin.

“It has been found that the module is being run by international drug traffickers and is having a well organised network in POK, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, South East Asian countries, Kuwait and the Middle East. The final destination of the contraband was Europe,” said Ravindra Yadav, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).

In December 2013, the narcotics cell of the Crime Branch arrested Mohammad Dharick with 10 kg of heroin. Dharick told police that the heroin was sent from Afghanistan to Pakistan and reached Delhi via J&K. It was being sent to Sri Lanka, where drugs are stored and gradually shipped to Malaysia and Europe.

During interrogation, Sajjat said he was a holder of border pass used to enter PoK. By using the pass, Sajjat went across the LoC and met his acquaintance Pakistan occupiedKashmir resident Mohammad Iqbal. It is alleged that Iqbal delivered the heroin that Sajjat brought to Uri in J&K.

“Iqbal procured the contraband from Afghanistan,” Yadav added. On the directions of Iqbal, Sajjat along with Shafaat carried the contraband from Uri to Delhi. After reaching Delhi on February 7, they stayed in a rented house in north-east Delhi’s New Seemapuri.

On February 7, Sajjat and Shafaat were handing over the consignment to Abdullah near Tis Hazari court when they were caught by the team of the Narcotics Cell based on a tip-off. Abdullah told police that he came to the capital to collect the contraband on the instructions of a man named Saleem from Kuwait. He was caught by police at the time of the consignment’s delivery.

The recovered heroin was to be carried by Abdullah to Tamil Nadu, from where he was supposed to wait for further instructions from Saleem. “The busting of the racket has shattered the backboneof international drug traffickers. Saleem has links in Chennai, Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Yadav said. 

Several members of the network have been identified. Nasir, Mujibar Rehman and Abdullah, who hails from Tamil Nadu, are on the run. Cooperation has been sought from Tamil Nadu Police to nab the accused.