NIA arrests 2 key accused in Rs 700 crore Attari drug haul case

New Delhi, March 22

The National Investigation Agency has arrested two more key operatives in the Attari drug case involving the seizure of more than 102 kg of heroin, worth Rs 700 crore, an official statement issued on Friday said.

The accused have been identified as Deepak Khurana alias Deepu of Ferozepur in Punjab and Avtar Singh alias Sunny of Jamia Nagar in Delhi, it said.

With this, a total of five accused have so far been arrested in the case, the NIA said in the statement.

Financial investigations and the examination of the associates of the accused have revealed that Deepak Khurana was not only a drug dealer and drug quality tester but also a handler of ‘proceeds of drugs’, it said.

“And Avtar was involved in the distribution of drugs, handling of cash and laundering the drug proceeds through banking and hawala channels,” the probe agency said.

Both the accused, who were arrested on Thursday, have been identified as long-term associates of the prime accused, Razi Haider Zaidi and Shahid Ahmed alias Qazi Abdul Wadood, it said.

NIA investigations show that Khurana and Singh are key operatives in the larger conspiracy hatched by the international drug cartel for the supply of drugs to various distributors in India and channelling of the proceeds of the drugs to the main foreign-based accused people, the statement said.