Maha ATS nabs international drug smuggler in Delhi

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a member of an international drug cartel, who was once an associate of late scamster Harshad Mehta, from New Delhi, an official said on Wednesday.

The accused Niranjan Shah was apprehended by ATS officials during a raid conducted in the Munirka area of Delhi on Tuesday, the official said.

Shah was wanted in a drug case, in which the Juhu unit of Mumbai ATS had busted a racket in March and arrested one Sohel Yusuf Memon with 5.65 kg of mephedrone (MD), he said.

The accused had fled from Mumbai and was evading arrest by constantly changing his location across states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, said Shivdeep Lande, DIG ATS.

While the ATS went to these states to track down the accused, he was finally traced to Munirka village, where he was living in a single room, which was rented in someone else’s name, the official said.

As per a release issued by the ATS, Shah was a known drug trafficker who had records in various police stations in Mumbai, Delhi, Anti-Narcotics Cell, Mumbai, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), New Delhi and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

Shah was a former associate of late scamster Harshad Mehta, and was also an accused on the record of the Economics Offences Wing in Mumbai, it added.

The accused was produced before a court on Wednesday and has been remanded to ATS custody till August 25, the official said, adding that further probe is underway.