Drug syndicate kingpin Virender Singh Baisoya, an accused in the Rs 6,000-crore Pune drug case, has been brought back to India from the United Arab Emirates, officials said on Friday. Baisoya was arrested in Dubai before being deported to India, marking a significant development in the investigation into one of the country's major drug trafficking cases.
Baisoya arrived in India aboard an Air India flight, AI 4310. He had been under the scanner of Indian enforcement agencies for his alleged links to an international drug trafficking network. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had earlier issued a Red Corner Notice against him, facilitating efforts to trace and apprehend him abroad.
According to officials, Baisoya is a close associate of Sandeep Dhunia, who is considered the main accused in the Pune drug case. Dhunia reportedly managed to travel from Dubai to Pakistan, making the international dimension of the alleged drug network a major focus for Indian agencies.
The return of Baisoya has been described as a major success for India's intensified campaign against narcotics trafficking and fugitive criminals operating from foreign locations.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah welcomed the development and said the government was determined to pursue drug traffickers regardless of where they attempted to hide. In a post on X, Shah said the Modi government was relentlessly tracking down drug traffickers abroad and working to dismantle their entire ecosystem.
Shah said the NCB's action represented another milestone in the government's policy of zero tolerance towards narcotics. He also praised the agencies for tracing the accused through a comprehensive approach that involves following both the top-level leadership and the lower-level operational networks of criminal syndicates.
The development comes amid a broader crackdown by Indian agencies on international drug trafficking networks. Authorities have increasingly focused on identifying financial links, overseas handlers, supply chains and associates involved in narcotics operations, besides pursuing fugitives who leave the country.
Baisoya's return comes shortly after another wanted Indian fugitive, Vishakha Rathod, was deported from the UAE. Rathod, the wife of alleged Rs 88-crore fraud mastermind Avinash Rathod, was brought to Maharashtra on August 3.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had said that Vishakha Rathod was accused of being part of a criminal conspiracy involving schemes that allegedly lured investors with promises of assured fixed monthly returns. She was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.
Her arrest and subsequent deportation followed coordination between the CBI, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs and UAE authorities. The Red Corner Notice issued through Interpol played a key role in tracing and apprehending her.
Rathod is currently in the custody of Maharashtra Police.
The successive deportations underscore the growing cooperation between Indian investigative agencies and foreign authorities in tracking fugitives. For agencies investigating organised crime and narcotics trafficking, the return of Baisoya could provide an opportunity to probe the wider network allegedly operating behind the Pune drug case and identify other individuals linked to the syndicate.
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