AHMEDABAD: A special NIA court on Wednesday granted 10-day custodial interrogation of an Afghan national in connection with the Rs 21,000-crore heroin haul at Mundra port by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in September.
The accused, Sobhan Aryanfar (28), was brought from Hyderabad by the National Investigation Agency on transit remand on Tuesday. The accused was residing in Delhi’s Neb Sarai area. Since the special court was not available, he was sent to judicial custody for a day and was produced before NIA judge Shubhada Baxi on Wednesday. Special prosecutor Amit Nair requested the court for 10-day police remand on various grounds.
He submitted that Aryanfar is suspected of collecting the proceeds of drugs sold in India and was in constant touch with the main accused in this case. He was sending the money to other accused living abroad through various hawala channels. The probe agency wants to find out to whom he was sending the money, since when and how much amount he might have sent to co-accused in this case. The NIA submitted that an international drug cartel was in operation and Aryanfar’s interrogation could help in finding out details about it.
Before this, NIA arrested two Afghan nationals, Saeed Mohammed and Fardeen Ameri, with one Pradeep Kumar earlier this month and secured their police remand in this case. After the Mundra drug haul case was transferred to NIA on October 6, the new probe agency obtained remand of three accused arrested by DRI — the owners of Aashi Trading Company, Machvaram Sudhakar, Govind Vaishali and Rajkumar P. Immediately after case transfer, NIA arrested an Afghan national, Mohammed Khan.
The accused, Sobhan Aryanfar (28), was brought from Hyderabad by the National Investigation Agency on transit remand on Tuesday. The accused was residing in Delhi’s Neb Sarai area. Since the special court was not available, he was sent to judicial custody for a day and was produced before NIA judge Shubhada Baxi on Wednesday. Special prosecutor Amit Nair requested the court for 10-day police remand on various grounds.
He submitted that Aryanfar is suspected of collecting the proceeds of drugs sold in India and was in constant touch with the main accused in this case. He was sending the money to other accused living abroad through various hawala channels. The probe agency wants to find out to whom he was sending the money, since when and how much amount he might have sent to co-accused in this case. The NIA submitted that an international drug cartel was in operation and Aryanfar’s interrogation could help in finding out details about it.
Before this, NIA arrested two Afghan nationals, Saeed Mohammed and Fardeen Ameri, with one Pradeep Kumar earlier this month and secured their police remand in this case. After the Mundra drug haul case was transferred to NIA on October 6, the new probe agency obtained remand of three accused arrested by DRI — the owners of Aashi Trading Company, Machvaram Sudhakar, Govind Vaishali and Rajkumar P. Immediately after case transfer, NIA arrested an Afghan national, Mohammed Khan.
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