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Farmhouse drug bust: Afghan man gave Aadhaar card for registering rent agreement
New Delhi: The Punjab Police are investigating an Afghan man who leased a farmhouse in Sainik Farms where a heroin-manufacturing unit was busted on Sunday, and four people were arrested during a raid by the state police, officers privy to the probe said on Tuesday
New Delhi: The Punjab Police are investigating an Afghan man who leased a farmhouse in Sainik Farms where a heroin-manufacturing unit was busted on Sunday, and four people were arrested during a raid by the state police, officers privy to the probe said on Tuesday.
The officers said Najibullah Khalid, the man who rented the farmhouse, submitted a copy of his Aadhaar card when the rent agreement was signed between him and the owner of the property, Pravesh Kumar alias Bobby.
The Aadhaar card, a copy of which is with HT, was prepared on a Neb Sarai address. Bobby, and Ganesh Kumar, the property dealer who got the deal fixed, said they have submitted the copy of Khalid’s Aadhaar card to the Neb Sarai police. They have told the police that Khalid introduced himself to them as an Indian citizen, who is involved in the supply and sale of dates. The rent agreement was prepared last month and the four arrested men began staying in the farmhouse around June 26-27, the investigators said.
“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 led the raiding party during the crackdown on the farmhouse.
On Sunday, around 5pm, a Punjab Police team raided the farmhouse number 227, in Sainik Farms and arrested four Afghans for running a heroin-manufacturing unit there. A total of 17 kilogram heroin, assorted chemicals, acids and lab equipments were seized from the farmhouse.
The raiding team caught Khalid when he reached the farmhouse to meet his alleged accomplices. The raiding team took Khalid with them for questioning, as the farmhouse was taken on rent in his name. He is yet to be arrested, said a Punjab Police officer, who asked not to be named.
“Khalid came to me with the reference of a property dealer in Malviya Nagar, who helped him purchase a flat in Neb Sarai. The Aadhaar card that Khalid gave us for preparing the rent agreement of the farmhouse has the address of the same flat. Khalid told me that he sold that property and wanted to move into a farmhouse with his wife, whom he introduced as an Indian citizen,” said Ganesh.
According to Ganesh, the farmhouse leased on a monthly rent of ₹1.6 lakh and Khalid paid ₹4.80 lakh as advance rent and two months of security money. “As a property dealer, I followed all the procedures while renting out the property. Apart from the rent agreement, I also applied online for the tenant’s verification,” he said.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (south), Delhi Police, 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 getting the tenant verified from the police. Asked if Khalid could have prepared a fake Aadhaar 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, requesting to remain anonymous, said holding an Aadhaar card means that the card holder is residing in India. But, according to the Aadhaar Act, 2016, even a foreigner who has stayed in India for more than 182 days is eligible to apply for an Aadhaar card.
“Khalid has told the police that he was staying in India as an Afghan refugee for the past six years. This information has to be verified, before we find out how he got an Aadhaar card,” the officer added.
About the case and the charges against him, Bobby said he did not violate any law because the tenants never told him that they were foreigners. “I would have never rented out my property or had alerted the concerned agencies, if I knew that the tenants were foreigners. Being a responsible citizen, I will cooperate with the police in their investigation,” said Bobby.
