Hawala kingpin gets bail as NCB fails to file chargesheet
A man allegedly involved in an international drug trafficking syndicate today secured bail from a Delhi court as the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) failed to file a chargesheet within the stipulated 180 days.
A man allegedly involved in an international drug trafficking syndicate Saturday secured bail from a Delhi court as the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) failed to file a chargesheet within the stipulated 180 days.
"The accused (Naresh Kumar Jain) is enlarged on bail on furnishing a personal and surety bond of Rs 2 lakh each as the prosecuting agency could not file the chargesheet within time," special judge Sanjiv Jain said.
Jain, who is in jail since his arrest on December six last year, had filed an application under Section 167 of the CrPC which entitles an accused to get bail if the probe agency fails to file the chargesheet within the stipulated time.
The NCB had said the documents for completion of probe were to be collected from Italy, the USA, the UK and UAE and it was a time-consuming exercise.
The court had on May 15 issued letters rogatory to the courts in foreign countries to seek their help in the probe.
However, ten days after the issuance of the letters rogatory, the court dismissed the plea of NCB for extension of time by one year to conclude the probe.
Jain is booked under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for allegedly financing and transporting narcotic drugs to international markets.
The NCB had alleged Jain, wanted in Italy, absconded from Dubai and entered India illegally via Nepal and he had links with Albanian drug traffickers as well.
Besides the drugs case, Jain is also booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for his alleged hawala transactions.
The court had also granted him the bail in the case as the ED, like the NCB, failed to file the chargesheet within time.
Jain, who used to run M/s Kumar Trading Company in Dubai, was arrested there as well after it came to light that sale proceeds of drugs, running into several crores of rupees, were credited to the firm's account, the ED had said.
The money was "transferred" to the account of the company from Europe, China and Africa, it said.
The accused was also under the surveillance of US authorities which had confiscated USD 4.3 million from him in June last year, it said.
The ED also said the accused had financed persons involved in drug syndicate in India and abroad.
He allegedly laundered money for global terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and financed narcotic cells, it said.