New Delhi: The central government has issued a notification authorising the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate the Bengaluru drugs case that is suspected to be related to the Trivandrum airport gold smuggling case.
NIA officials ranked inspectors and above can investigate drug cases falling under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Centre pointed out in the notification.
Cases under the NDPS are currently being investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
NIA sources said the agency will investigate drug dealings connected only with cases related to treason, terrorism and other such issues that fall under its jurisdiction. The Bengaluru drugs case suspected to have connections with the Trivandrum International Airport gold smuggling racket falls under this category, they said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had recently questioned Bineesh Kodiyeri over his links with Anoop Mohammad, an accused in the Bengaluru drugs case.
The NIA will also investigate drug dealings related to cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
There is a strong demand for the drugs dealing case related to the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput to be handed over to the NIA. However, the UAPA has not been applied to the case and no terrorism links have been established.
