Sainik Farms drug bust: Afghan national used Aadhaar to take farmhouse on rent

The raiding team took Najibullah Khalid for questioning as the farmhouse was taken on rent in his name. He is yet to be arrested, said a Punjab Police officer who did not want to be named

The farmhouse in south Delhi’s Sainik Farms, where Punjab Police on Sunday unearthed a heroin-manufacturing unit, was taken on rent by an Afghan national, Najibullah Khalid, who used an Aadhaar card to identify himself as an Indian resident while getting the rent agreement for the property, said owner of the farmhouse and the property dealer who finalised the deal.

Representational Image.

Afghan nationals Mujahed Shinwari, Mohammad Lal Kaker, Jannat Gul Kakar, and Samiullah Afghan, who were allegedly running the unit, were arrested from the farmhouse during the raid. Khalid was caught later when he arrived there to meet his accomplices. The raiding team took Khalid for questioning as the farmhouse was taken on rent in his name. He is yet to be arrested, said a Punjab Police officer who did not want to be named.

Khalid’s Aadhaar card, a copy of which is with HT, carries a Neb Sarai address. The farmhouse owner, Pravesh Kumar alias Bobby, and the property dealer, Ganesh Kumar, said they have submitted to the Neb Sarai Police the Aadhaar card’s copy, rent agreement, and other documents that they obtained from Khalid while renting out the property. The two told police that Khalid had introduced himself as an Indian citizen into the business of supply and sale of dates. The rent agreement was prepared last month and the four men started staying in the farmhouse around June 26-27.

He said the farmhouse was rented out to Khalid on a monthly rent of ₹1.60 lakh. Khalid paid ₹4.80 lakh as one-month advance rent and two months of security money. “I followed all the procedures while renting out the property. Apart from the rent agreement, I had also applied online for the tenant’s verification,” he said.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (south) Mandava Harsh Vardhan said a case under Indian Penal Code’s section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) has been registered at the Neb Sarai police station against the farmhouse owner for not carrying out tenant verification. Asked if Khalid had prepared a fake Aadhar Card for obtaining the farmhouse on rent, the additional DCP said, “We will look into all the aspects pertaining to the case that we have registered.”

Another police officer, who did not wish to be named, said holding an Aadhaar card means that the card holder is residing in India and as per the Aadhar Act, 2016, even a foreigner who has stayed in India for more than 182 days is eligible to apply for an Aadhaar.

“Khalid told the police that he has been staying in India as an Afghan refugee for the past six years. This information has to be verified first before finding out how he got an Aadhar card,” the officer added.

About the case and the charges under which he has been booked by the Neb Sarai police, farmhouse owner Bobby said he had not violated any law because the tenants never told them that they were foreign nationals. “I would have never rented out my property or had alerted the concerned agencies, had I known that the tenants were foreigners. Being a responsible citizen, I will cooperate with the police in their investigation,” Bobby said.

On Sunday around 5pm, around a dozen personnel from the Punjab Police raided Bobby’s farmhouse number 227, spread in nearly 1,700 square yards, and arrested four Afghan nationals for running a heroin-manufacturing unit there. A total of 17 kilogram of heroin, assorted chemicals, acids and lab equipment were seized from the farmhouse.

“We are carrying out another operation to nab more drug dealers associated with the syndicate. As far as investigation regarding the Aadhar card and other documentation regarding the rented farmhouse is concerned, we will investigate everything once we complete our operation,” said Tushar Gupta, ASP Garhshankar police (in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur), who was leading the raiding party during the crackdown at the farmhouse.