Harpreet Singh aka Kabir Talwar and Prince Sharma, the key accused in the ₹22,000 crore 3,000kg Gujarat port drug haul case, were in touch with Afghan and Iranian nationals who had links with Pakistan-based terror groups, sources in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) told The New Indian.
The source also said that Talwar, who ran several nightclubs in the national capital, had “orchestrated” the smuggling of heroin from Afghanistan through his employee, Sharma’s shell company. The NIA had arrested Talwar after questioning him for several hours.
Commenting on the role of Talwar, the official said, “We have found several links between the accused who were charge-sheeted and those who were named in the case.” “Besides other accused, Talwar was also in direct, and indirect touch, with absconding accused Mohammad Hussain Dad, a resident of Afghanistan, and absconding accused Javad Najafi, a resident of Iran,” the official added.
The NIA found links between accused Mohammad Hasan Hussain Dad and Mohammad Hasan Dad and other co-conspirators with proscribed terror organisations based in Pakistan. The agency said that the proceeds were channelled back to foreign entities through hawala for anti-India activities.
Talwar’s White Club, which was earlier known as the Playboy Club, is located on the premises of Hotel Samrat, which is just a few hundred metres away from the Prime Minister’s residence. Talwar also owned several high-end cars, pictures of which were shared by him on his social media page, which has now been deactivated.
Sharma was arrested last week by the agency following its searches at 20 locations in connection with a drug seizure on September 13, 2021. The anti-terror probe agency also registered a case on October 6 last year.
An NIA official related to the probe said that Talwar orchestrated the entire operation through Sharma. He intended to get a huge quantity of narcotics through this dubious channel from Afghanistan to India.
The official said that Sharma, who is the proprietor of Magent India, had connived with Talwar to import narcotics into India in the garb of “Semi-processed Talc” from Afghanistan on the latter’s instructions. The official further said that Talwar had allegedly floated several shell companies for the purpose.
The official further said that Talwar and his employee, Sharma, know many incriminating facts, including their linkages with unknown accused persons based in foreign countries. He said that during their questioning, the anti-terror probe agency would try to get the details of the people with whom they were in touch in Afghanistan and Iran.
The official also said that during the searches, the NIA also got to know about a godown in south Delhi’s Neb Sarai area, which was rented by Najibullah Khan Khalid, an Afghan national who is currently absconding.
During the searches, the official said, they found some samples that were later found positive for heroin after testing. The official said that the consignments of narcotics were kept at the same godown.
According to the NIA, Talwar and Sharma also facilitated drug transport to Delhi-based Afghan nationals involved in the purification and distribution of heroin in many states, including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The NIA probe continues to unravel the entire supply chain and network of money laundering, drug distribution, and other players involved in this international drug network.
On August 29, the NIA filed its supplementary charge-sheet against nine persons in the case. The nine persons included four Afghan nationals, three persons from Punjab and two from Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, the NIA arrested 10 accused and also filed a charge-sheet against 16 people, including 11 Afghans and one Iranian national.
The NIA also found that the proceeds of the smuggling were channelled back to foreign entities through hawala for anti-India activities.
The NIA has invoked not only sections of the IPC and the Narcotics, Drugs, and Psychotropic Substances Act, but also Sections 17 (punishment for raising funds for terrorist acts) and 18 (punishment for conspiracy to commit terrorist acts) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
The NIA also discovered that the company shipping the contraband is owned by Chennai-based Machavaram Sudhakar and Durga Purna Govindaraju Vaishali. Govindaraju is the proprietor of Aashi Trading Company, registered in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada, that was importing the talc from a firm called Hasan Husain Ltd.