Delhi: Autar Singh, whose arrest led to the recovery of the massive haul of 47kg heroin and 2kg cocaine valued at Rs 150 crore, was born in Afghanistan and had earlier worked as an interpreter for patients coming from the war-torn country to Delhi for treatment.
His interrogation revealed that it was one such client, Samiullah, the kingpin of an international drug cartel, who got him to join the illegal trade while visiting the national capital for treatment.
A resident of Tilak Nagar, Autar was born in Kabul in 1965. His father ran a general store cum meat shop in the Afghan capital.
In 1992, Autar, along with his mother, wife Jaswant Kaur and son Jasmeet, left Afghanistan to settle in India as a refugee.
According to police, he initially earned his livelihood by running a chicken soup/kebab cart at Tilak Nagar and by selling illicit liquor. However, not satisfied with his income, he went back to Kabul in 2002.
In 2005, he came back to India and started living at Tilak Nagar. From 2009 onwards, along with his nephew, Shurbir Singh, Autar, who knew Farsi and Pushto, started working as an interpreter for Afghan nationals who came to India for treatment, etc.
He helped Afghan visitors talk with doctors at various city hospitals and also began work as a local escort for the
Afghan nationals. "In October-November, 2012, Samiullah contacted Shurbir looking for an interpreter. Soon, Samiullah arrived in India and was received by Autar and Shurbir.
"Samiullah then made them an offer to join his trans- national drug cartel by simply acting as couriers of drugs that were pushed into India for onward delivery in Sri Lanka and other countries," said the DCP (Special Cell), Sanjeev Kumar Yadav.
He also told the duo that he had a well-developed network of Indian drug peddlers who carried out retail distribution within the country, Yadav added. Samiullah later left the country after briefing them about the precautions to be taken in the high-risk trade.
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