The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Delhi resident Baneet Singh Talwar, the brother of Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar — a key accused in the 2021 drug bust at Mundra port in Gujarat — in connection with large-scale smuggling of drugs concealed in semi-processed talc in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, the federal agency said on Saturday.
Harpreet Singh Talwar alias Kabir Talwar, a clubbing tycoon from Delhi, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in August 2022 and later charged with participating in a conspiracy backed by Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI, to smuggle high-quality drugs into India via the maritime route.
The ED said in a statement on Saturday that Baneet Talwar “continued to manage and operate business entities under the beneficial control of Harpreet Singh Talwar even after the latter was arrested in the NIA case”.
He was produced before a court in Delhi, which remanded him to ED custody for five days.
“He had also parked proceeds received from Harpreet Singh Talwar to acquire immovable properties, the benefits of which continue to be enjoyed by Harpreet and family,” the agency added. Baneet Talwar, the ED said, was taken into custody on Friday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) “in connection with large-scale smuggling of narcotics, concealed in semi-processed talc, alongside linked narcotics seizures across Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana”.
