Meth lab busted in NCR; Tihar Jail warden, Mexican national among 5 arrested
New Delhi (PTI): A meth lab having links to a Mexican drug cartel was recently uncovered in Noida and five people, including a Tihar Jail warden and two Delhi-based businessmen, were arrested in connection with it, the NCB said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said the lab was busted in the Kasna industrial area of Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district on October 25 and about 95 kg of methamphetamine, a synthetic drug, was found on the premises both in solid and liquid forms.
The Special Dell of the Delhi Police was also roped in by the federal anti-narcotics agency as "the drug network has footprints across several places in the National Capital Region".
During a preliminary enquiry, it has come out that a Delhi-based businessman, found at the factory during the raid, along with the Tihar Jail warden, was "instrumental" in establishing the illegal factory, procuring chemicals required for the drugs from various sources and importing the machinery, NCB Deputy Director General (Operations) Gyaneshwar Singh said.
He said a Mumbai-based chemist was roped in by these people to manufacture the drug. The quality of the drug was tested by a Mexican cartel member residing in Delhi, Singh added.
The official said these four people were produced before a special Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act court here on October 27 which sent them to three-day NCB custody.
An "important member" of the syndicate and "close associate" of the Delhi-based businessman was apprehended in follow-up action from Delhi's Rajouri Garden area, he said, adding that this person was being produced before a court for his custody.
The Delhi businessman, as per the NCB, was earlier arrested by the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in a separate NDPS case and had been lodged in Tihar Jail, where he came in contact with the warden who later became his "accomplice".
The agency said the Mexican drug cartel identified in this case is CJNG -- Cartel De Jalisco Nueva Generacion.
Chemicals like acetone, sodium hydroxide, methylene chloride, premium-grade ethanol, toluene, red phosphorus, ethyl acetate and imported machinery for manufacturing synthetic drugs were also seized from the clandestine lab, the NCB said.
DDG Singh said forward and backward linkages as well as financial trail and assets generated by the accused through this illegal drug trafficking are being investigated now.
The agency claims to have busted at least five clandestine labs this year so far in Gandhinagar and Amreli in Gujarat, Jodhpur and Sirohi in Rajasthan and Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
In the Bhopal case, a joint operation was undertaken by the NCB and the Gujarat ATS at the Bagroda industrial estate and about 907 kg of mephedrone and 7,000 kg of some other chemicals, along with machinery, were seized.
The NCB believes that considering the low cost of production of synthetic drugs like methamphetamine and mephedrone, the drug mafia is "increasingly shifting" to setting up such clandestine labs in industrial areas so that local law enforcement agencies are not alerted by the routine transportation of material and machinery, waste generated from the laboratories and toxic fumes coming out of chimneys during chemical processing.
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Delhi court acquits husband, in-laws in dowry death case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has acquitted a man and his parents in a dowry death case, saying the prosecution failed to establish allegations of cruelty or dowry harassment against them.
Additional Sessions Judge Deepak Wason acquitted Kartik Sharma, his father Ravi Dutt Sharma, and his mother Veena Sharma in the case of Shivali Sharma, who died by suicide in March 2023.
The accused were facing trial under Sections 498A (cruelty by husband or relatives) and 304B (dowry death) of the IPC.
In the April 1 order, the court said, “There is nothing on record to establish the culpability of the accused persons in the commission of the offences charged against them. The prosecution has failed to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”
It held that while the death was unnatural and occurred within seven years of marriage, the key elements of dowry death, particularly proof of harassment connected to dowry demands, remained unproven.
According to the prosecution, the deceased's family alleged she was subjected to harassment and repeated dowry demands, including cash and a vehicle, which allegedly drove her to commit suicide.
The police registered the FIR after her parents made statements before an executive magistrate.
However, during the trial, key prosecution witnesses, including the deceased's mother, father, brother, uncle and grandmother, did not support the allegations in the court.
They consistently stated that Shivali was living a "peaceful and happy" married life and denied any dowry demand or harassment by the accused.
The witnesses further attributed her death to depression caused by her child's serious medical condition.
The court noted that the testimonies of close relatives, considered the most material witnesses, revealed no evidence of cruelty or dowry-related harassment “soon before her death,” a crucial requirement to establish an offence under Section 304B IPC.
The court observed that the medical evidence confirmed death due to asphyxia caused by hanging.
Giving the benefit of the doubt, the court said this alone was insufficient to implicate the accused without corroborative evidence of cruelty.
