Man held for peddling cannabis spills beans

Mumbai: The fruitseller arrested by Mumbai police’s anti-narcotics cell (ANC) on Sunday for peddling charas had allegedly offloaded two consignments near Delhi before leaving for Mumbai in a luxury bus with 1.8kg contraband on his person. The ANC is trying to find out who were the beneficiaries of the consignments offloaded in Delhi.

The duo — identified as Nissar Ahmad Bhatt (33) and Illias Shaikh (38) — was carrying over 5 kg of charas when they left from J&K and delivered the remaining contraband at two places near Delhi. Officials suspect it was on the outskirts of the national capital in the Delhi-Noida belt.

An ANC officer said, “There is lack of clarity on where and to whom the drugs were handed over before the duo took a luxury bus to Mumbai.”

Officials said the accused were not cooperating and changing their statements every time they are questioned. They have been remanded to police custody till May 16. Shivdeep Lande, deputy commissioner of police (ANC), said, “Bhatt is part of the distribution network and his job was to collect the consignment and distribute it to recipients en-route their journey.”

We are questioning them and trying to get more details on their activities.”