AHMEDABAD: The bail application of a key accused in the Mundra drug haul case was rejected by a NIA court here on Monday.
The special court rejected the bail application of Machavaram Sudhakar, husband of the woman in whose name Aashi Trading Company, the firm that transported 2988.2 kg of heroin via Adani port at Mundra in Gujarat's Kutch district, is registered.
The couple were arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence from Chennai on September 17 last year.
Sudhakar was arrested under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) along with others in a case that is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Special judge Shubhada Baxi rejected his bail plea after observing that his prima facie involvement was clearly established in "a grave and serious offence having far-reaching implications."
And that his engagement on bail entails major impediment to the investigating agency.
Opposing his bail plea, the NIA had submitted that the applicant accused was "found to be an active member of an international drug cartel."
The NIA's special public prosecutor Amit Nair submitted that the investigation is at a crucial stage for collection of evidence against him and other accused for unearthing "a larger conspiracy involving an international drug cartel comprising players based in Afghanistan, Iran and India."
The modus operandi of the cartel suggests a conspiracy to exploit India's trade friendly approach to destabilise the Indian economy and also pose a serious threat to national security, Nair submitted on behalf of the NIA.
He said a similar consignment imported by the same firm in June last year and transported to Alipur in Delhi is part of the same larger conspiracy, as there is a strong link between the two crimes.
The NIA is investigating the case amid a high possibility of narco-terrorism, and Sudhakar's enlargement on bail will impede investigation, which is at a preliminary and crucial stage, he further said.
The accused had moved a bail application claiming he had no knowledge of the consignment seized by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from Mundra port in September, 2021, and that he had "fallen into the trap of the international mafia."
He said he had no direct or indirect involvement in the case, and was under the impression the consignment was semi-processed talc stones.
The drug consignment seized by DRI from the port in Mundra in Gujarat's Kutch district was allegedly sent from Afghanistan via Bandar-Abbas, in Iran, concealed with talc powder.
The Union Home Ministry had transferred the case to NIA, which also invoked the UAPA.
So far, ten people have been arrested in the case.