NIA chargesheets 7 more drug traffickers in Rs 700 crore Attari narcotics haul case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has chargesheeted seven more accused in the sensational Attari 100-plus kilogram narcotic haul case valued at Rs 700 crore, the agency said on June 8.

In its supplementary chargesheet filed under the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in a special court in Delhi.

As per the NIA, the seven chargesheeted accused are key operatives in the international drug syndicate conspiracy related to the case (RC-35/2022/NIA/DLI).

All the seven chargesheeted accused are identified as Athar Saeed, Amritpal Singh, Avtar Singh, Harwinder Singh, Tahseem, Deepak Khurana and Ahmad Farid.

NIA said these seven accused were involved in the smuggling of drugs into India and their circulation to various distributors across the country. “They were also involved in channelizing the proceeds of the drugs to the main accused persons based abroad.” NIA had earlier chargesheeted four accused in the case.

In April 2022, the Indian Customs Department seized a total of 102.784 kgs of heroin (narcotic substance), valued at approximately Rs 700 crores, in two instalments at Integrated Check Posts in Amritsar’s Attari. The drugs were concealed in a consignment of Licorice roots (Mulethi).

NIA said that the drug consignment had been smuggled into India by Afghanistan-based Nazir Ahmed Qani on the directions of Dubai-based absconding accused Shahid Ahmed alias Qazi Abdul Wadood.

“The consignment was meant to be delivered to accused Razi Haider Zaidi for distribution in various parts of the country,” the agency said.

NIA had in December 2022 chargesheeted all three, along with one Vipin Mittal. Mittal and Razi were initially arrested in the case, and in December 2023, NIA also arrested another accused, Amritpal Singh, after recovering the proceeds of narcotics amounting to Rs 1.34 crores from him. Amritpal was nabbed while attempting to flee the country.

In April and May 2024, the NIA made five more arrests in the case, identifying the accused as Athar Saeed, Avtar Singh, Harwinder Singh, Tahseem and Deepak Khurana.

(with inputs from ANI)