As Punjagutta police ready chargesheet, drug kingpin Tony jumps bail

HYDERABAD: Even as the Punjagutta police prepares to wrap up its investigation and file the chargesheet, international drug peddler Tony, who was arrested in January 2022 and granted bail in August, has reportedly failed to appear before the police every Monday as ordered by the court as one of the conditions for his bail.

Chukwu Ogbonna David alias Tony was apprehended in Mumbai in January following the arrest of two of his agents Imran Babu Shaik and Noor Mohammad Khan in the same month. During their interrogation, Imran and Noor had revealed Tony to be the kingpin who used to send them to Hyderabad to deliver drugs to his clients.

Police traced Tony to Andheri East and arrested him. In August, Tony was granted bail by the Criminal Court, Nampally, on condition that he appears before the Punjagutta police every Monday.A police officer connected with the case had told TNIE that Tony had in place a sleeper-cell like network and used to send his agents Imran, Noor, Aftab, Parwaiz, Rahmath, Irfan and Firdos to the city.

These agents would be given minute details like the vehicle number at a certain place or pillar number or the recipient’s shirt colour. Tony was also precise about making calls and communicating with his peddlers and suppliers. He communicated only on WhatsApp and VOIP calls. Just before his arrest, Tony had deleted 60% of the information on his mobile.

During his arrest, seized some psychotropic drugs as well as his mobile phone from Tony. The phone has been sent to the FSL to retrieve information. The FSL report is expected this month.Incidentally, while investigating Tony, the police have come across the name of drug kingpin ‘Star Boy’ who procures drugs from abroad and used to supply them to Tony.