The Hindu : Front Page : Rs. 200-crore narcotic haul in Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 29, 2006

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Front Page

Rs. 200-crore narcotic haul in Delhi

Staff Reporter

Alleged kingpin of pilferage racket at Tughlakabad container depot in police custody

BIG CATCH: Prime accused Vinod Sharma in custody at the Kalkaji police station in New Delhi on Monday. - PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM

NEW DELHI: In what is being described as the biggest narcotic drug haul so far in the Capital, the Delhi police have seized 4,400 kg of the recreational drug "Methaqualone" worth a whopping Rs. 200 crores in the international market. While one man has been arrested for allegedly stealing the consignment from a container, the police are trying to ascertain its point of origin and destination.

The massive seizure was made following the arrest of Vinod Sharma, who has allegedly been pilfering export goods from containers headed for the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Tughlakabad here. Last month the Delhi police had arrested six persons, including the elder brother of Vinod Sharma, in connection with the theft of export quality carpets and towels valued at Rs. 35 lakhs from containers coming in from export units at Panipat in Haryana.

During interrogation, they allegedly disclosed that Vinod was the kingpin of the pilferage network engaged in theft and disposal of goods from containers. Subsequently a team comprising Inspector Rajender Singh of the Special Staff of the Delhi police and Inspector Sunder Lal of the Kalkaji police station was set up to track him down.

During investigation, the police purportedly learnt that Vinod had broken open a container and stolen a consignment of some chemical, suspected to be drugs, worth crores of rupees, and was trying to sell it. Following the leads, the police mounted a raid at a DDA flat at Kalkaji in South Delhi and arrested Vinod on Sunday. They recovered 4 kg of white powder from his possession, which tested positive for Methaqualone, a banned drug specified in Schedule I of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act.

According to the police, Vinod disclosed that he had stocked the rest of the consignment in his shop at Badarpur. At his instance, the police recovered 220 bags weighing 20 kg each. Vinod allegedly told the police that he had stolen the consignment from a sealed container in June. He, however, has not provided concrete clues to the identity of those who had tipped him off about the consignment.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Delhi) Anil Shukla, Vinod is a native of Sitamarhi in Bihar. He began as a small-time scrap dealer and in due course came into contact with one Wakil and Verma, from whom he learnt "the tricks of the trade''. He developed links with drivers of containers ferrying goods to the Tughlakabad ICD. At his instance, the drivers would park containers at isolated places on the way to the ICD and Vinod along with his accomplices would allegedly steal part of the consignments after removing the container rivets without tampering with the seal. The stolen goods would be uploaded into other vehicles and stocked in godowns for disposal.

Vinod allegedly paid over Rs. 50,000 to the drivers per container for the pilferage. "He has bought buildings and plots from the ill-gotten money. All members of his family are engaged in the same trade. He has also been arrested by the Special Cell and the Crime Branch in the past," said Mr. Shukla.

This time round, Vinod had allegedly contacted several drug peddlers to strike a deal for the stolen Methaqualone.

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