Nagpur: In a damning revelation, it has come to light that one of Nagpur’s betel nut (Supari) traders, who was among the ones under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is learnt to have nexus with “Javed Amravati” whose name had cropped up during the investigation of the Umesh Kolhe murder case in June this year, according to a report in local Times of India daily.
Kolhe, a pharmacist from Amravati, was murdered for posting messages supporting expelled BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on social media. The case was subsequently transferred to the national investigation agency (NIA).
Report said that Javed is the kingpin in the illegal tobacco supply trade in Amravati. Javed was among the key clients of the Nagpur-based betel nut trader too. The Nagpur-based trader, like other tainted traders, had been bringing sub-standard betel nuts from Indonesia by evading tax to the tune of crores of rupees.
Apart from the ED raid at 18 places in connection with the betel nut trade, the racket had come under the lens of the security agencies once again following the arrest of one ‘Captain’ by Assam police a few days back.
Though insiders claim that ‘Captain’, who had a meteoric rise from being a small time RTO agent to a top international betel nut smuggler, was arrested in a different case other than betel nut smuggling, the information had created ripples in the local market of Itwari, Gandhibagh and Wardhaman Nagar.
The report stated that ‘Captain’ worked as a ‘settler’ and brokered deals with different government and security agencies including police and RTO. “In Nagpur, the cumulative transactions of betel nut traders is around Rs 10 crore. Around one-fourth is spent in managing the system and agencies,” said the report, adding, fake export documents are prepared while bogus shell companies are floated in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar to transport betel nut across international borders and through states to reach Nagpur.
