Funds generated from the sale of Afghan heroin smuggled to India via the maritime route were provided to the operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for carrying out terror activities, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) claimed on Monday in its third charge sheet filed in Mundra port drug haul case.

Harpreet Singh alias Kabir Talwar, owner of popular nightclubs in Delhi including White Club (earlier known as Playboy), Jazbaa and RSVP , who was arrested in August last year, travelled to Dubai on several occasions for exploiting commercial trade route to smuggle Afghan heroin to India and was using his companies for receiving the contraband and remittances, the agency added.

The federal agency filed its second supplementary charge sheet against 22 individuals and companies, including Pakistan occupied Kashmir based operative Mohammad Iqbal Awan, Dubai based member of the drug smuggling gang Vityesh Koser alias Raju Dubai , and Kabir Talwar on Monday before a special court in Ahmedabad.

NIA filed its first charge sheet in the case against 16 others on March 14 and second charge sheet against nine on August 29 last year.

The consignment , 2,988 kgs Afghan heroin , was intercepted and seized at Mundra Port by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on September 13, 2021.

“During investigation it has emerged that an organized network of syndicate members was being run by foreign based narcotic traders for importing the heroin laden consignments into Indian Ports (Mundra, Kolkata) and its further delivery to various warehouses located at New Delhi. The India based network of Afghan nationals was responsible for hiring these warehouses and for processing/extracting and distributing the heroin once it reached New Delhi. Investigation established that funds generated through the sale proceeds of heroin were provided to operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for furtherance of terrorist activities in India,” a NIA spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

Others named in the fresh charge sheet on Monday include another Delhi businessman Prince Sharma, who was arrested along with Talwar last year; Ishwinder Singh from Panipat (Haryana); Jasbir Singh from Tilak Nagar in Delhi; Afghan nationals , Rah Matullah Kakar (an Afghan who lives in South Delhi), Shaheenshah Zaheer (an Afghan residing in Noida), Faridoon Amani alias Javed Amani (Kabul), Abdul Salam Noorzai (Kabul), Mohammad Hussain Dad from Kandahar (Afghanistan), Mohammad Hasan Shah (Husain’s brother), Iqbal Awan (resident of Kamalkote, Uri, J&K and presently residing at Muhajir Camp, Manak Hatiyan, Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir) and several companies.

The agency said there was an organized criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal consignments of heroin through international trade routes to India from Afghanistan.

“While investigating forward and backward linkages of the crime, a well-oiled network of operatives involved in the import, facilitation and transport of drug laden consignments has been uncovered. It has also been revealed that consignments were being imported through multiple fake/shell import proprietorship firms floated in India through multiple accused,” the spokesperson said.

Calling Talwar the “prime accused”, the spokesperson said he visited Dubai on multiple occasions and wilfully participated in the conspiracy for exploiting the commercial sea-route for the import of drugs, in order to smuggle heroin into India in commercial quantities.

Talwars clubs and companies in Delhi, “opened ... in the names of his employees, relatives and friends ... were used for importing narcotics, banned items and receiving remittances in form of legitimate goods in lieu of his role in the smuggling cartel. Over a dozen such firms have been identified and investigated, including the charge-sheeted firm, M/s Magent India. This company was used to import and receive heroin disguised as semi-processed talc stone from Afghanistan to India,” the spokesperson added.