Living high,living dangerously

The son of retired Subedar Major Varghese Yohannan,Saji Mohan did an animal husbandry and veterinary course from Jabalpur University before clearing the civil services in his second attempt.

He also received a bravery award during his posting as Superintendent of Police,Doda,in 1999. He remained in Doda until 2006 and then joined as Zonal Director,Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB),Chandigarh.

Recently,he was posted as Deputy Director,Enforcement Directorate,in Kochi. Sources said Saji Mohan sought the transfer from Chandigarh,where he was often spotted at the city’s discotheques and late-night parties with his “close friends”.

Sources said he was allegedly hand-in-glove with the drug-trafficking gangs outside his jurisdiction,on whose tips he acted against drug-peddlers/ traffickers in the region under the jurisdiction of NCB,Chandigarh.

From the seizures of contraband from the criminals caught by the NCB,he is suspected to have taken out huge quantity of highly priced drugs.

A team of NCB (Delhi unit),headed by Zonal Director Sandeep Mittal,has sealed the contraband,including heroin,cocaine,charas and opium worth Rs 50 crore,lying in the seizure-room at Sector 2 office of NCB,Chandigarh.

Sources in the NCB revealed that Saji Mohan had a couple of “close confidants” in the NCB who carried out his instructions. “He never talked much with his team members. Many a times,he would himself provide tip-offs about suspects and their vehicle numbers,which were intercepted by the NCB team and contrabands were seized,” informed an NCB official.

Saji Mohan came into limelight when his team arrested a well-connected drug peddler,Harpal Singh alias Raju,who was operating from Punjab. Raju disclosed the names of six Chandigarh Police officials allegedly involved in drug trafficking in and around the region.

Another big arrest carried out under the leadership of Saji Mohan was of peddler Paramjit Singh of Attari village and Burundi national Festus Benson,in December 2007. Over 10 kg of heroin was recovered from their possession. The NCB officials had then claimed that the contraband was being brought from Afghanistan to India via Pakistan.

Interestingly,while Saji Mohan and his team went on catching “couriers” of contraband,they rarely managed to nab the purchasers. Even in the case of Raju’s arrest,the NCB team did not arrest a single person to whom Raju was allegedly supplying the cocaine and heroin.

Acting on the information provided by Saji Mohan,the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday seized additional 25 kg heroin at Naigaon in central Mumbai. “We seized 25 kg heroin from Naigaon based on the information provided by the arrested accused,” ATS chief K P Raghuvanshi said.

Meanwhile,Kalanjoor village in central Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district is shocked over the arrest of Saji Mohan and members of his family insist that IPS officer was trapped by the drug mafia and some of his former colleagues with the NCB,who “harbour a grudge” against him.

“His father had brought him up in strict discipline. We do not believe that he has committed such a heinous crime. There is every reason to believe that Saji,known as an efficient officer,was trapped by his enemies,” said his uncle Chacko Varghese.

While working with the NCB,claim his family members,Saji had taken disciplinary action against some officials. Recently,they had joined duty after their suspension period was over. The family sources added that “something fishy” had taken place when Saji was on leave for two weeks last December,following the death of his father-in-law.

Chacko Varghese further added that Saji had sought a transfer to Kerala,as he wanted to look after his aged parents. Before joining at the Kochi office,Saji had a quick visit to his family and then reportedly left for Delhi. Saji’s wife Deepa then stayed in Kerala with their two children.

Central Kerala Addl DGP V R Rajeevan said the state police have recieved no information from the Maharashtra Police. “We have not yet looked into the arrested officer’s background,” he said.

(With inputs from Shaju Philip in Thiruvananthapuram)