Drug trafficker presumed long dead held in Uttar Pradesh

A drug supplier, presumed dead by law enforcement agencies in 2012, was arrested in Uttar Pradesh while delivering a consignment of two kg heroin valued at Rs eight crore in the international market, police said on Monday.

Islam Ansari alias Islamuddin, 60, a key member of an inter-state narcotics syndicate, was arrested on Saturday near Rampur in Uttar Pradesh while he was visiting the place to deliver a consignment of heroin.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Yadav said Ansari's wife Salma Begum had moved an application before Karkardooma court in Delhi in 2012 that he had died on March 14, 2012.

He was on trial in the court in a 2008 case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The officer said that as Ansari, a resident of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, was already convicted in two cases of NDPS Act, he had an apprehension of being convicted again.

"Hence, to avoid third conviction he hatched a plan and got a death certificate made by the municipal committee in Meerut, which was submitted by his wife before the court. Later the trial of this case was stopped and the case file was consigned to records after false verification of his death," the officer said.

After declaring himself dead, Ansari changed his name to Wahid and shifted from Meerut to Ghaziabad and started living a totally new life in which nobody knew about his criminal antecedents, he informed interrogators.

"On multiple enquiries in Meerut and Ghaziabad, his criminal record was untraceable and the law enforcement agencies presumed him to be dead. However, in his criminal circle, he was still known as Islam, which was the tip-off which ultimately led to his arrest," the officer said.

Ansari told interrogators that he started receiving heroin from new supplier namely Johri of Bareilly, who along with three others was arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell in June this year.

After the arrest of Johri, Ansari was getting heroin in the last two months from a person he knew as 'doctor' -- a resident of Loni in Uttar Pradesh.

Police said Ansari has been engaged in drug trafficking for the last 30 years.

--IANS

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