NIA arrests 2 key accused in Rs 700 crore Attari drug haul case

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency has arrested two more key operatives in the Attari drug case involving the seizure of more than 102 kg of heroin, worth Rs 700 crore, an official statement issued on Friday said.

The accused have been identified as Deepak Khurana alias Deepu of Ferozepur in Punjab and Avtar Singh alias Sunny of Jamia Nagar in Delhi, it said.

With this, a total of five accused have so far been arrested in the case, the NIA said in the statement.

Financial investigations and the examination of the associates of the accused have revealed that Deepak Khurana was not only a drug dealer and drug quality tester but also a handler of ‘proceeds of drugs’, it said.

”And Avtar was involved in the distribution of drugs, handling of cash and laundering the drug proceeds through banking and hawala channels,” the probe agency said.

Both the accused, who were arrested on Thursday, have been identified as long-term associates of the prime accused, Razi Haider Zaidi and Shahid Ahmed alias Qazi Abdul Wadood, it said.

NIA investigations show that Khurana and Singh are key operatives in the larger conspiracy hatched by the international drug cartel for the supply of drugs to various distributors in India and channelling of the proceeds of the drugs to the main foreign-based accused people, the statement said.

The drug seizures in the case were made in two instalments — on April 24 and 26, 2022 — by the customs department when the narcotics arrived in the country from Afghanistan via ICP Attari, Amritsar, it said.

The total value of the narcotics was approximately Rs 700 crore, the NIA said.

Khurana and Singh have been arrested in the case involving the recovery and seizure of over 102 kg of heroin, smuggled into the country concealed in a consignment of liquorice roots (mulethi) in April 2022, it added.

According to the NIA investigations, the consignment was sent to India by absconding accused Nazir Ahmed Qani, a resident of Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan, on the directions of Dubai-based absconding accused Shahid Ahmed alias Qazi Abdul Wadood was meant to be delivered to Razi Haider Zaidi in India, for further distribution in various parts of the country, the statement said.

The NIA on December 16, 2022, filed a charge sheet against Shahid Ahmed and Nazir Ahmed Qani, along with two others, identified as Razi Haider Zaidi and Vipin Mittal.

Zaidi and Mittal were arrested earlier in the case.

One Amritpal Singh was arrested on December 15, 2023, while attempting to flee the country.

He was arrested after proceeds of narcotics amounting to Rs 1.34 crore were recovered from him and were frozen under relevant legal provisions, the NIA said.