Salaya port heroin seizure case: NIA files 6th supplementary charge sheet against 4 accused

New Delhi, July 3 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed its sixth supplementary charge sheet against four accused in connection with a case related to seizure of 500 kg of heroin being smuggled from Pakistan into India at Gujarat's Salaya port, an official said.The charge sheet was filed against Harminder Singh alias Romi Randhawa, Manjit Singh alias Manna, Kuldeep Singh and Malkit Singh, all residents of Punjab, before a Special NIA court in Ahmedabad under the IPC, NDPS Act and UAPA.

"A total of 24 persons have been arrested so far in the case and a search is on for the remaining nine accused who are currently absconding," the official added.

Those accused who are absconding in the case are India’s most wanted drug smuggler-trafficker Simranjeet Singh Sandhu, Pakistan-based wanted accused Hajisaab alias Bhaijaan, Nabi Baksh and Australia-based Tanvir Singh Bedi. The NIA has managed to trace the linkages of the accused to these wanted criminals.The case had exposed a huge criminal conspiracy to smuggle illicit drugs into India from Pakistan via the sea route. The consignment was being further smuggled to Punjab through Delhi where it was brought from Gujarat after reaching the Salaya port. The accused were involved in smuggling, transportation, storage, purification and distribution of illicit drugs.

The NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had played a pivotal role in transporting, purifying and distributing the drugs in various places across Punjab, and used the drug proceeds to raise and use funds for carrying out activities relating to terror and crime. They had acted on the directions of the wanted accused.

As per NIA investigations, Harminder Singh and Manjit Singh had taken warehouses on rent in Ludhiana, Punjab, for storage of the smuggled drugs and heroin at the behest of Australia-based wanted accused Tanvir Singh Bedi.

Kuldeep Singh, along with accused Malkit Singh, had aided another accused, Sukhbir Singh, in escorting heroin, drug purification chemical laden vehicles multiple times from New Delhi, Karnal, Kurukshetra to Ludhiana and Amritsar to avoid raising suspicion and police checks, as the Bolero vehicle (on which Kuldeep was employed as a driver by the gurudwara) was registered in the name of a gurudwara in Fatehgarh Sahib district, Punjab.

The case was originally registered by the ATS Gujarat on August 12, 2018, following the seizure of heroin from one of the accused, Aziz Abdul Bhagad, who had pilfered five kg of the heroin from a 100 kg heroin consignment smuggled into India from Pakistan. He had concealed this five kg heroin in a pit near his village in Gujarat, leading to his eventual arrest.