NEW DELHI: A city court has issued a non-bailable warrant against Naresh Kumar, a sub-inspector in Delhi Police’s crime branch, who was allegedly running an international narcotics cartel from the capital. Kumar has been on the run for the past few months and is believed to have fled abroad. Police suspect he escaped to South Africa via Nepal and Syria.A lookout circular has been issued against him.
Interestingly, Kumar has been filing bail applications while on the run. “His application was recently dismissed by court and he has now filed a fresh plea,” said a crime branch officer.
Kumar is believed to be running his drug-related operations from abroad, an intelligence officer said. He is also allegedly in touch with a few officers of the crime branch through encrypted chat applications and virtual private network.
Alarmed by the developments, intelligence agencies have expedited efforts to bring him back to India.
Cop flew to NE states, Odisha to acquire drugs
Special commissioner Shalini Singh, who heads crime branch, didn’t respond when asked whether any disciplinary action had been initiated against the rogue cop. However, sources said he has been suspended and will soon be dismissed.
The racket was busted in Feb this year. Cops had raided a flat in Sunlight Colony after being tipped off about drug-related activities happening there.
One person was apprehended and produced in court where he revealed that the drugs belonged to a crime branch officer who was the kingpin of a drug cartel. It was alleged that Kumar had rented the flat for illegal activities, including storing drugs procured from Odisha and the northeast.
A source said that during the search, local police found several bags possibly used for packaging drugs for distribution across Delhi. The accused portrayed Kumar as the mastermind, possessing contact details for the entire drug network.
The court, upon hearing these claims, ordered a thorough investigation. Examination of Kumar’s call records, bank accounts and CCTV footage placed him near the flat with the bag and the accused. Additionally, suspicious transactions were found in his bank account and the raided flat was linked to him through rental documents.
Further investigation revealed that Kumar had flown to Odisha and northeast to acquire drugs. He would leave his associates with the drugs after making deals and return to Delhi. His associates would then bring the drugs to Delhi where they would be packaged for distribution on a smaller scale.
