Gujarat: Drugs valued at Rs 200 crore seized, six arrested
Darpan News Desk, 14 Sep, 2022 01:34 PM
Porbandar, Sep 14 (IANS) Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) have seized 40 kg heroin valued at Rs 200 crore from a Pakistani fishing boat and arrested six persons in this connection near the International Maritime Border Line (IMBL).
During the intervening night of September 13 and 14, on a specific intelligence input, the ICG strategically deployed two fast interceptor class of ships, C-408 and C-454 for patrolling in areas close to the IMBL.
During midnight, the Pakistani boat was observed moving suspiciously in Indian waters, 5 nm inside notional IMBL and 40 nm from Jakhau.
On being challenged, the Pakistani boat over boarded a consignment and started evasive maneuvering, the ICG said in a statement.
The consignment was skillfully recovered by one of the two ICG ships and found to be a drug haul.
"On visual examination, the drug is believed to be heroin with quantity approx. 40 kg and market value of Rs 200 crore. The other ICG ship, braving very rough seas in pitch dark night and marginal weather conditions, maneuvered and stopped the boat," the ICG added.
The boat is being brought to Jakhau for further joint investigation by all agencies.
This is the fifth such joint operation by the ICG and ATS, Gujarat in the last one year in which huge quantity of narcotics is seized and those involved in the crime are arrested.
Police have also recovered a cache of 55 pistols of .32 bore and .30 bore from their possession. The accused were apprehended from Madhya Pradesh by the Counter Intelligence unit of Punjab Police with the help of its counterparts in Madhya Pradesh.
Lingayat seer Dr Murugha Shivamurthy Sharanaru, accused of raping minor girls, was finally taken into custody by the Karnataka Police on Thursday night - six days after the FIR against him was lodged. Police sources said the accused seer will be produced before a court on Friday.
Taking umbrage at the Union Minister's new plan on how the future of Chandigarh would be decided, Badal said: "It is not in the ambit of Shekhawat to take a decision on this matter. This is a closed chapter. The UT status of Chandigarh is purely temporary pending transfer to Punjab."
Mann said in another significant decision, the state government has now decided to appoint Chief Minister Field Officers as Nodal Officers for NRIs to ensure redressal of their grievances. He said that these officers will prove to be an ideal Nodal Officer for NRIs as they will be effectively able to coordinate across departments and districts, besides having a direct communication with the Chief Minister's Office.
The passengers were later identified as Moshin Khan Saifi and Asim. Saifi was supposed to travel from Delhi to Hyderabad by Vistara Flight, whereas Asim was supposed to travel from Delhi to Dubai by Air India Express flight.
The official said that at about 4 pm, CISF staff at Terminal-3 noticed suspicious activities of a passenger in the check-in area. The passenger was later identified as Misam Raza, who was about to fly to Dubai on a SpiceJet flight. Raza was then diverted to the random checking point for a thorough checking of his luggage.
