Bengaluru: IAF officer was elusive Krishna' in drug racket

Bengaluru: Wing Commander G. Rajashekhar Reddy, who was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on October 3 from Nanded in Maharashtra, was the elusive ‘Krishna’ in the recent anti-narcotic drugs operations and arrests made by the Zonal Narcotics Control Bureau, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Reddy, who was posted in Delhi, was under surveillance not only by the NCB but by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after he fell in the radar of the surveillance agencies for alleged involvement in the international drug trafficking of amphetamine, which spans from across the country to South East Asia and Nigeria, sources told this newspaper.

Amphetamine is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and is used as an aphrodisiac and euphoriant. It is banned under the NDPS Act of 1985.

“Reddy, who was posted at the Air Headquarters in Delhi, was reportedly operating under the alias of Krishna in the illicit drug trafficking trade. He was introduced to the trade by his neighbour in Hyderabad, who was earlier arrested under the NDPS Act and the Air Force officer had helped him with his bail. Though Reddy had joined the drug cartel a year ago, he had gone up the ladder because of his contacts and the credibility factor,” the officer said.

The IAF officer was arrested by the Nanded police after a joint team of NCB, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai on October 3 seized about 231 kg of amphetamine worth Rs 45 crore from various locations in Hyderabad and Bengaluru from the possession of three people, including a scientist, Venkat Rama Rao, his wife and another accused – Ravi Shankar Rao. The NCB, which was tracking Reddy’s movements, had alerted the Maharashtra police, who arrested him and seized Rs 7.5 lakh cash, five mobile phones, a hard disc and a laptop from him. “Reddy and Rao were classmates, and Reddy allegedly wanted to set up his own unit to manufacture amphetamine, which costs Rs 20 lakh per kg in the grey market in India and the price varies between Rs 1 & 2 crore in the underworld markets abroad,” said the officer.

The NCB had started closing in on Reddy after they first seized 221 kg of amphetamine from two people at Miyapur in Hyderabad on September 30. He has been remanded in judicial custody till October 18, said NCB sources.