NIA charge-sheet: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday (June 23) charge-sheeted 13 Pakistan nationals in connection with a 2022 case of cross-border smuggling of weapons and drugs through Gujarat to fund terrorist activities in India.
The agency said that 10 out of the 13 charge-sheeted accused were arrested in December 2022, along with a huge consignment of drugs and arms which were concealed in gas cylinders in a Pakistani fishing boat.
40 kg of heroin, six foreign-made pistols and magazines, and 120 cartridges, along with documents including Pakistani identity cards, phones, and Pakistani currency were seized from their possession, NIA said in the charge-sheet filed in a special NIA court in Ahmedabad.
Details of accused Pakistani nationals
The 10 arrested accused are Kadarbaksh Umetan Baloch, Amanullah Musa Baloch, Ismail Sabzal Baloch, Allahbaksh Hatar Baloch, Goharbaksh Dilmurad Baloch, Ammal Phullan Baloch, Gul Mohammad Hatar Baloch, Andam Ali Boher Baloch, Abdulgani Jungiyan Baloch, and Abdulhakim Dilmurad Baloch, the NIA said.
The remaining three accused - Hazi Salim, Akbar, and Karim Baksh - who have been mentioned in the chargesheet, are absconding.
According to the NIA investigation, the consignment of imported weapons was being smuggled into India by the accused persons for delivery to Harun who is an India-based absconding accused.
"Harun had hatched the conspiracy to illegally smuggle the consignment of weapons and contraband from Pakistan to India to provide funds to terrorist outfits and gangs operating in Punjab and north India,” the agency said.
NIA said that the conspiracy was exposed based on Gujarat's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) inputs that a Pakistan-based drug smuggler, identified as Salim, was attempting to smuggle large consignments of contraband drugs and illegal weapons from Pakistan through Okha.
Gujarat ATS inputs
The ATS was tipped off that the consignment would be reaching the Indian waters on December 27 or 28 near Okha jetty through a fishing boat named "Al-Soheli", the NIA said.
It added that the ATS had informed the Okha Coast Guard in a joint operation. The two agencies had seized the boat. The Union Home Ministry had transferred the case to NIA on March 6 considering the national security ramifications and the international linkages of the case.
The NIA registered the case under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Arms Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
This was the first case registered after the establishment of the Ahmedabad branch office of the NIA and further investigation was on, the agency said.
(With PTI inputs)
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