The city Police Commissioner B. Srinivasulu, responding to media reports related to the seizure of about 2,998 kg of heroin at Mundra Port in Gujarat a few days ago, said that the stock was intended to reach Delhi and not Vijayawada.
“It appeared in the press that a huge quantity of heroin worth thousands of crores of rupees was seized by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence at Mundra port, Gujarat (in containers) smuggled from Afghanistan. On verification with the concerned investigating agencies, it is learnt that one Smt. Govindaraju Durga Purna Vaishali, resident of Chennai, has taken GST registration in August 2020 on the address at D.No. 23-14-16, Satyanarayanapuram, Gadiyaramvari Street, Vijayawada,” Mr. Srinivasulu said in a press release.
He said Ms. Vaishali, wife of Chennai-based Machavaram Sudhakar, had registered the export and import trading company and obtained IEC Code from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), with the Satyanarayanapuram address in August last year. The couple had been staying in Chennai for many years.
He said the smuggled heroin was intended to reach Delhi but not Vijayawada as alleged in a section of media. So far no activity except using the Vijayawada house address for obtaining above licences had come to notice. The racket had no link to A.P. However, further inquiry was being conducted, he added.
The Central investigating agencies, which conducted searches in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Delhi, were probing the case, Mr. Srinivasulu said.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized the heroin in two containers. Investigation officers found that a Vijayawada-based trading firm had booked the consignments and alerted the A.P. Police, DRI and the Narcotics Bureau.
