NIA links Rs 21,000 Crore drug seizure at Adani’s Mundra Port to Pahalgam terror attack: Report
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has reportedly told the Supreme Court that the massive drug haul at Mundra Port in Gujarat, operated by Adani Ports, is linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. The agency said the seizure is part of a larger narco-trafficking network aimed at funding terror activities and destabilising India by targeting the country's youth.
According to a report by the Times of India, the NIA said that the 3,000 kg of heroin, valued at around Rs 21,000 crore, was smuggled into India disguised as talc powder using valid import documents. The narcotics were later moved to warehouses located in Delhi’s Neb Sarai and Alipur areas.
"Look what they did to India at Pahalgam by shooting innocent tourists," Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told a Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh, linking the Pahalgam attack to the narco-terror network.
In its affidavit, the NIA stated that the drug consignment was coordinated by an Afghan-based trafficker, with support from Iranian intermediaries and operatives of Pakistan’s ISI. The agency highlighted that the proceeds from the drug sales were intended to fund terrorist activities in India.
"This case involves the largest intercepted consignment of narcotic substances brought into India through illegal means. The purpose was not only to create havoc among the public through drug abuse but also to use the sale proceeds to finance terror activities," the NIA said in its submission.
The seizure had earlier raised serious questions about security and scrutiny at Mundra Port, which is managed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited. The port came under public and political scrutiny following the seizure in 2021, though Adani Group had then clarified that port operators have no role in inspecting cargo, which is the responsibility of government authorities.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
