VIJAYAWADA: In a major development in the sensational seizure of heroin worth Rs 9000 crore in market value at Mundra port in Gujarat which allegedly has links with Vijayawada-based firm Aashi Trading company, police clarified that it has nothing to do with the city. The Vijayawada City Police Commissioner Bathini Sreenivasulu stated that the company has been operating from Chennai for the past one year and heroin or any other sedatives has not reached Vijayawada from Afghanistan. The consignment seized by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) was slated to deliver in Delhi not in Vijayawada.
On Wednesday, Gujarat DRI officials has impounded two containers carrying about 2,988.22 kgs of heroin at Mundra port in Gujarat and arrested seven persons including two Afgan nationals. The importers had declared that the consignment contained semi-processed talc stones from Afghanistan. The heroin was imported under the name ‘Talcum Powder’ from Hassan Hussain Limited in Kandahar and shipped from Bandar Abbas Port in Iran to Mundra Port. The value of the heroin was initially estimated at `2,500 crore.
Upon investigating about Aashi Trading company in Vijayawada it was found that the company was registered under the name of Chennaibased woman Govindaraju Durga Purna Vaishali in August 2020 while her husband Machavaram Sudhakar runs the company. Using the address, they obtained Import and Export License. In order to avoid suspicion, they gave Vaishali mother’s house address in Vijayawada but never received any stock at the address mentioned in the consignment,” the top cop said.