NIA files supplementary charge sheet in Mundra Port narcotics case

The National Investigation Agency on Friday filed its third supplementary chargesheet in the Mundra Port drugs haul case related to the seizure of 2,988 kg heroin in 2021, an official said.

With this, a total of 42 individuals and seven firms have so far been chargesheeted in the case which was initially registered by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Gandhidham unit, Gujarat, on September 13, 2021.

The consignment was allegedly smuggled into India from Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas, Iran.

The supplementary charge sheet was filed in the NIA Special Court, Ahmedabad, against a person named Pankaj Vaid alias Amit, a resident of Amritsar in Punjab, a spokesperson of the agency said.

Vaid, also known by the aliases of "Noni Sunaira" and "Sanju Baba", has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the spokesperson said.

"Pankaj is accused of being a part of the organized criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal consignments of heroin through international trade routes to India from Afghanistan," the official said, adding "he was associated with foreign-based narcotics traders involved in pushing drugs into India".

The NIA said its investigations further revealed Vaid facilitated the processing and extraction of heroin and later sold it in the country.

The NIA took over the investigations on October 6, 2021 and filed a charge sheet against 16 people on March 14, 2022.

Subsequently, it filed the first supplementary charge sheet against nine more people on August 29, 2022 and the second against seven firms and 15 individuals on February 20 this year.