New Delhi, Oct 3: A Delhi court on Saturday remanded alleged international narcotics trafficking accused Navpreet Singh to 10 days of police custody after he was deported from Turkey and brought back to India in connection with a major drug trafficking case.

Singh was produced before the Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi following his deportation from Turkey, where he was allegedly living under the identity of Navab Virk.

Seeking his custodial remand, the police said that his questioning was required as part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged international narcotics trafficking network and to ascertain the role of other accused and the wider network.

However, the defence opposed the police remand plea, saying that there was no need for further custodial interrogation.

Advocate Asgar Khan, appearing for Singh, told the court that the police had already recorded his statement while he was in custody and that further investigation could proceed on the basis of the statement.

“We presented our arguments against the police remand before the court, but the court granted it,” Khan told media.

Navpreet Singh has been accused by investigating agencies of being linked to an international drug trafficking network allegedly operating between Afghanistan, India and Turkey.

According to the investigation, Singh was allegedly operating as a key handler of the network from Turkey and was accused of facilitating the trafficking of heroin and methamphetamine from Afghanistan to India.

His name had also surfaced in connection with a major narcotics case that came to light in Delhi in 2021, in which investigators recorded the recovery of around 355.5 kg of heroin from the accused persons.

Investigating agencies have claimed that Singh used the identity “Navab Virk” and obtained Turkish citizenship under the assumed identity while continuing to operate the alleged narcotics network.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday described Singh’s deportation from Turkey as a “historic milestone” for the Narendra Modi-led Union government.

In a post on social media platform X, Home Minister Shah said that Singh had obtained Turkish citizenship under the alleged fake identity of Navab Virk and continued to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine to India from Afghanistan.

“Our agencies tracked him down, ripping apart veil after veil to unmask his true identity, and secured his deportation. Today he has been brought back to India and put behind bars in connection with cases involving drug trafficking and other crimes he is accused of. Congratulations to all the agencies for this success,” the Union Minister added.

Union Minister Shah also said that the Central government was committed to destroying every narco-cartel before December 2029.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said Singh’s deportation was part of the Centre’s efforts to bring back fugitives involved in serious criminal cases.

The development comes months after suspected drug trafficker Mohammad Salim Dola was brought back to India from Turkey.

Earlier, fugitive Prabhdeep Singh was also brought back from Azerbaijan in connection with a major narcotics case involving the recovery of a large quantity of heroin.

The investigation against Navpreet Singh and other accused is underway.

Acting on complaints regarding stolen and lost mobile phones within the jurisdiction of the Kasturba Marg Police Station in Mumbai, police analyzed data from the CEIR portal and conducted technical investigations. By verifying device details, IMEI numbers, and user information, officers from the Kasturba Marg Police Station tracked down and recovered a total of 100 mobile phones from locations across Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra.

The total estimated value of the 100 recovered mobile phones is ₹2,270,658. Of these, 18 phones have already been returned to their respective owners/complainants, including: 1) Rajendra Puri, 2) Khush Saw, 3) Kripa Lodhiya, 4) Shreya Satam, 5) Atul Sathe, 6) Priyanka Mistri, 7) Banu Tarang, 8) Prem Gupta, 9) Adya Shaikh, 10) Shweta Shah, 11) Sandhya Pandit, 12) Deepak Sawdekar, 13) Saurabh Jhangar, 14) Ketan Shete, 15) Onkar Raut, 16) Jayalal Yadav, 17) Lakshmi Appa Kripagiri, and 18) Praveen Dubey. The process of returning the remaining phones to their owners is currently underway.

This operation was carried out under the supervision of the DCP (North, Zone 3), Mumbai, by the team at Kasturba Marg Police Station, led by Balasaheb Bunkar.

Tehran, Oct 3: A senior Iranian shipping official has said the country will pursue in international courts the US attack on and seizure of one of its container ships, which took place in April during the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, the official news agency IRNA reported Saturday.

Mohammad-Reza Modarres Khiabani, CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, made the remarks at a meeting in Tehran while describing as a “war crime” the US forces’ boarding and seizure of the Iranian-flagged vessel Touska off the coast of Iran’s southeastern Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman on April 19, said the report.

He said the ship was carrying medicines related to the Iranian Red Crescent Society and dialysis patients, noting that attacking a commercial ship during the ceasefire constitutes a “war crime and violation of the truce,” Xinhua News Agency reported.

He also said that the imposition of any form of naval blockade violated international law and constituted a “hostile” act, alleging that the US Navy struck Touska’s engine room and took 28 crew members hostage.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump declined to reveal his next move on Iran, saying the situation was “working out very well” and predicting that the conflict would not last long.

Trump made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the White House before departing aboard Marine One.

Asked what his next step regarding Iran would be, Trump initially suggested that disclosing it would make major news.

“That’s very, oh, it’s — well, if I told you, you’d have a major story, right? But you’ll see. Working out very well. Iran is not doing well,” Trump said.

The President did not elaborate on what action his administration was considering or provide a timetable.

But later in the same exchange with reporters, Trump again referred to Iran while discussing global energy supplies and his efforts to get Europe to put more diesel into the market.