Delhi businessman held in Bhilwara with poppy husk

BHILWARA/JAIPUR: A 36-year-old businessman from New Delhi, identified as Pradeep Kumar, was arrested by the Rajasthan police from Bhilwara district on Thursday. Police also found Rs 10 lakh worth poppy husk during the search of his vehicle and detained a minor travelling with him, Gulabpura SHO Sugan Singh Bijarania said.

A resident of Arjun Nagar in Gurgaon, Kumar got into opium smuggling after running up a debt of Rs 50 lakh after his garment export business to England ran into regulatory troubles, police said.

During police interrogation, it was found that the main kingpin of the drug smuggling racket is a moneylender based in New Delhi who forces those in debt to smuggle drugs.

Kumar's garments business suffered setback over quality
"The kingpin smuggles narcitics in expensive vehicles and uses people in his debt to transport them," the SHO said.

Kumar, who ran a garments business, suffered a major setback over the quality of his products, resulting in a loss of Rs 50 lakh, and took to smuggling drugs to recover the money.

"Kumar has been arrested and we have made the New Delhi-based moneylender an accused in the case," he said.

He added that smugglers have devised cunning tactics to evade search stops, even exploiting the presence of minors, using them as decoys to avoid suspicion.

Bijarania said that just last month, the Gulabpura police busted a racket that was exploiting minors as drug peddlers.