Delhi Police arrests event manager at Mumbai Film City in 500 kgs cannabis case after six-year hunt

New Delhi, May 29 (PTI) A 40-year-old man who had been working as an event manager in Mumbai’s Film City has been arrested after evading capture for six years in connection with drug seizure case in 2019, police said on Thursday.

The accused, Jameel Ahmad, was allegedly the key conspirator behind a major interstate drug trafficking racket, the police said in a statement.

He was arrested on May 8 from his village in Pinangwan in Haryana's Nuh district by the Anti-Narcotics Task Force, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Apoorva Gupta said.

According to police, Ahmad fled in 2019 after three of his associates were caught with a truck carrying 500 kg of cannabis near Kashmere Gate.

The three arrested at the time -- Aslam Khan and Mausam Khan from Nuh, and Jakam Khan from Alwar, Rajasthan -- had named Ahmad as the mastermind who had sent them to Odisha to procure the contraband, the statement said.

While the co-accused were chargesheeted and are facing trial, Ahmad remained untraceable despite a court-declared proclamation and rejection of his anticipatory bail plea, police said.

He had relocated to Mumbai and began working in the event management sector, frequently changing his mobile numbers and avoiding visits to his hometown, except for brief periods to meet his children, the statement said.

His arrest based on a tip-off and a swift operation was carried out, police said.

During interrogation, Ahmad revealed that he had sourced the cannabis from two persons -- Gabriel and Paul -- in Odisha. Gabriel, was arrested in 2020 in a separate case involving cannabis worth Rs 17 crore in Gajapati district.

Ahmad also has prior cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Excise Act in Haryana, the statement said, adding that further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members of the drug network. PTI BM BM OZ OZ