The eight Pakistani men caught off the Porbandar coast with heroin worth Rs. 600 crore have reportedly told the Mumbai Police that the consignment was handed over to them by two Karachi-based fishermen.
However, with the accused maintaining that they had limited knowledge of the trade and trail of the seized heroin and were even unaware that they were carrying drugs in the boat intercepted by the Navy and Coast Guard, the probe has hit a dead end.
“They have disclosed that working as labourers at the Karachi Port, they knew these two men — Shauqat and Zafar — who were part time fishermen as well. Both contacted them and asked them to ferry the boxes of what they said was a hazardous chemical which could make one unconscious after coming in contact with it,” said a senior police officer.
The arrested men have further disclosed that the consignment was loaded in the boat not at the port but a small water strip connecting the sea to some part of the city and claimed that they had no knowledge about the people Shauqat and Zafar worked for, said the police.
“They were promised a sum of Rs. 50,000 each, an amount much higher than their average monthly incomes which ranged between 5000-7000 every month according to them. They were asked to follow a specific course and told that another boat would come and collect the consignment from them,” said the officer, adding that all these claims were being verified.
Investigators are also trying to ascertain who the owner of the seized boat was.
They maintained that all angles, including possible terror and underworld links, were being looked into.
