532-kg heroin haul: NIA gets eight-day custody of accused

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special judge NS Gill on Friday granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) eight-day custody of a Jammu and Kashmir resident accused in the 532kg heroin haul case at the Attari border.

On June 29, 532kg heroin and 52kg mixed narcotics concealed in a consignment of rock salt being imported from Pakistan were seized at the integrated check post (ICP) in Attari.

Tariq Ahmed Lone of Handwara in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, on whose behest the order was placed, was produced before in CBI special court that is designated NIA special court in Mohali.

With Lone’s arrest, the customs department had claimed to have busted an international drug racket based in Pakistan and Afghanistan with the seizure of the huge cache of drugs.

The main accused in the case, Gurpinder Singh, 29, who owned Kanishk Enterprises — an import-export firm in Amritsar — died under mysterious circumstances in judicial custody on July 21.

After Gurpinder’s death, the NIA was handed over the investigation terming the attempt to smuggle heroin as “narco-terrorism”.

Besides Gurpinder and Lone, truck owner Jasbir Singh and traders Ajay Gupta and Sandeep Kaur were also arrested.

The customs said Jasbir was to deliver the contraband to Ranjit Singh Rana, kingpin of the racket, who is still absconding.

First Published: Aug 10, 2019 01:02 IST