Absconding narco-accused arrested after three years

New Delhi: Special Cell of the Delhi Police has arrested an alleged key member of an inter-state narcotics trafficking network, who had been absconding for nearly three years in a major drug trafficking case, an official said on Wednesday.

Hakim Mohammad Altaf (58), a resident of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, was arrested from southeast Delhi’s Jangpura area. He had been declared an absconder by a city court in 2023 in connection with an NDPS Act case registered by the Special Cell in 2021, he said.

“Altaf was apprehended by a Special Cell team on August 3 after receiving specific intelligence about his movement in the Jangpura area. Altaf was an important link in an inter-state narcotics supply chain and was responsible for transporting drugs from Jammu and Kashmir to Delhi,” the officer said.

He played a key role in supplying and transporting narcotic substances to Delhi. He had also rented a flat in the Lajpat Nagar area to facilitate the operation. The arrest is linked to a case after the seizure of 4.5 kg of amphetamine from him in Zakir Nagar area.

“The investigation subsequently led to the arrest of another accused, Abid Hussain Sultan, from whom 12 kg of amphetamine was recovered, and Afghan national Hashmat Mohammadi, who was allegedly found carrying 5.04 kg of mescaline,” the officer added. Further investigation uncovered a drug-refining unit operating from Batla House in Okhla, where police recovered around 35.6 kg of heroin along with equipment and material allegedly used for refining narcotic substances.