Eight arrested persons tell cops they were given the Rs600-cr worth heroin by two men in Karachi
Mumbai police have identified the Pakistan-based handlers of the eight Pakistani nationals who were caught off Porbandar coast last month with heroin worth Rs600 crore. The arrested accused were told by the handlers that the consignment was a chemical that would be offloaded by a Dubai-based boat in international waters.
On April 20, the Indian Coast Guard and the Navy had intercepted a Pakistani boat that was ferrying a huge quantity of heroin. At least 232 packets of heroin weighing one kilogram each were hidden in plastic cans in the vessel. Besides heroin, three satellite phones and global positioning systems were also recovered.
Karachi residents Mohmmad Yusuf (40) and Mohmmad Ahmed (28), Punjab resident Maqsood Akhtar and five residents of Sindh province — Alibakhsh Allahbakhsh (30), Gulshan Siddique (40), Bakhsh Natho (40), Gulshan Maulabakhsh (30) and Yunus Sutar (35) were arrested from the vessel.
"Interrogation of the arrested persons has revealed that the consignment was given to them by two Karachi residents, identified as Shaukat and Zafar Iqbal. The Pakistani vessel that has been seized belongs to Iqbal. While the vessel was about to start their journey from Khudi Khai bay at Karachi port, Shaukat and Iqbal had told the arrested men that the consignment was of a dangerous chemical and that utmost care should be taken during the journey," said a police officer who is interrogating the Pakistani nationals.
The arrested persons, said the police, claimed that they were workers of Shaukat and Iqbal and were unaware that the consignment was drugs and not any chemical. As per the police, Shaukat and Iqbal had promised to give each of them Pakistani Rs50,000 if it was delivered successfully. Each of them, in fact, were given Pakistani Rs10,000 each in advance.
"Those on the vessel were told by Shaukat and Iqbal that the consignment would be offloaded by another vessel in the mid sea and would then be taken to Dubai. Shaukat and Iqbal had provided the number of the person who was supposed to take delivery of the consignment but did not reveal his name. The said number is in the satellite phone that is presently in custody of the Customs in Porbandar. We are in the process of collecting the phones to get further leads in the case," the officer said.
Those arrested have been booked under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code, Narcotic Substances and Psychotropic Substances Act and Maritime Laws. They are in police custody till May 5.
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