Five Pak nationals held with Rs 175 crore drugs off Gujarat coast
Ahmedabad: Five Pakistani nationals on board a fishing boat were apprehended mid-sea off Gujarat coast on Monday morning when they were allegedly trying to smuggle drugs worth Rs 175 crore into the state, security agencies said.
As many as 35 packets of heroin, each weighing one kg, were seized from the five men near Jakhau coast in Kutch district, located around 440 km from here, the Indian Coast Guard said in a release.
The seized contraband is worth Rs 175 crore in the international market, it said.
The early morning operation in the Arabian Sea near Jakhau was carried out by teams of the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and the Indian Coast Guard after the ATS received inputs about a possible smuggling attempt.
"The information further revealed that the consignment was being sent in a Pakistani fishing boat from Pakistan. ATS officials approached the Coast Guard and a joint operation was launched to apprehend the smugglers," the release said.
A team of ATS and Coast Guard started the operation with fast interceptor boats at Jakhau.
A suspicious boat of Pakistani origin was eventually located during search operation off Jakhau coast, the Coast Guard said, adding that 35 packets of heroin were found on it.
"The approximate weight of the confiscated contraband is 35 kg, valuing Rs 175 crore in the international market. The apprehended persons are being interrogated jointly by all agencies," it said.
The apprehended Pakistani men have been identified as Anees Isa Bhatti (30), Ismail Mohammed Kachchi (50), Ashhraf Usman Kutchhi (42), Kareem Abdulla Kutchhi (37) andAbubaqar Ashraf Sumra (55), all residents of Karachi, it added.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
