In what the Delhi Police say is the first and only case where a UK-based international drug kingpin has been extradited to India, wanted fugitive Kishan Singh has been brought back to India two years after his arrest by British authorities.
Born in India, Singh moved to the UK in 2009 and took British citizenship there in 2015. The Delhi Police accuse him of being the kingpin of an international drug syndicate specialising in the circulation of an Africa-origin drug nicknamed ‘Meow-Meow”, scientific name mephedrone.
Singh’s role in the international drug smuggling network was uncovered after the Delhi Police apprehended three drug traffickers in Delhi with about 25.85kg of ‘Meow-Meow’ worth over Rs 50 crore. The three, Amandeep Singh, Harpreet Singh (a 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games silver medallist in discus throw) and Harnish Sarpal, said they used to work for Kishan Singh based out of London, on whose directions they would procure and smuggle illicit drugs from a Mumbai-based supplier. These drugs were then transported to London through courier agents. Singh would also coordinate sending the consignments to the UAE, Uk, USA, Malaysia and other Middle-East countries.
India initiated extradition proceedings against Singh in June 2018, which were acknowledged and accepted by the Westminster Court in London. The London High Court refused his permission to appeal and issued a sealed order for his extradition in 2019. Singh also appeared before the European Court of Human Rights but that appeal was also dismissed.
Singh was finally brought back by a team comprising DCP Pramod Singh Kushwah, ACP Sanjay Dutt and Inspector Anuj Kumar, who brought him back on March 21. Both Singh and the team had to under COVID-19 tests twice.
Singh will be produced before a trial court following his mandatory quarantine period, after which his police custody remand would be sought.
