Heroin haul: Gujarat ATS arrests another accused from Devbhumi Dwarka

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Thursday said it has arrested one more accused in connection with the seizure of heroin worth Rs 120 crore from Navadra village in the state's Devbhumi Dwarka district.

The ATS has arrested Anwar Patelia, a resident of Navadra, who had stored 24 kg of the contraband, which had allegedly originated from Pakistan, in his house, an official said.

Patelia is the seventh person to be arrested in the multi-crore drug bust case, he said.

The latest arrest has come days after 120 kg of heroin worth Rs 600 crore was recovered from Morbi, which led to the arrest of Mukhtar Hussain Rao, Samsuddin Saiyad and Ghulam Hussain Bhagad, on November 14.

Based on Mukhtar's confession during his remand that he had hidden 24 kg of the contraband inside a house in Navadra, the ATS raided Patelia's house on Wednesday, the official said.

Two other accused - Iqbal Qadri and Arvind Yadav - were also nabbed by the ATS on Wednesday from Sirohi in Rajasthan, he said.

According to the ATS, Yadav was working for dreaded drug mafia Bhola Shooter aka Bharat Bhushan Sharma, who is currently lodged in Punjab jail and running the drug racket through his men.

''Qadri aka Iqbal Bhangaria had in the past delivered 12 kg of heroin to Bhola's henchman Yadav and Ankit Jhakhar. He along with Yadav were nabbed when they met again to plan another deal on Bhola's behalf,'' Assistant Commissioner of Police, ATS, K K Patel said.

One Isa Rao, a relative of Mukhtar, is wanted in this case, he said.

The official further said that almost all the drugs that land in Gujarat through sea-route, usually reach Punjab and Delhi through drug peddlers.

Mukhtar and others are seafarers, who had come in contact with Pakistani drug dealers, as they usually visit Gulf countries to deliver goods on their boats.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)