Narcotics Control Bureau DG takes stock of case of Mumbai couple held in Qatar

MUMBAI: Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Director General Rakesh Asthana visited the agency's Mumbai office and took stock of current cases, including that of a couple held in Qatar for alleged drug charges, an official said on Friday.
Asthana was in the city on Thursday, he said.
Mumbai residents Mohammed Shareeq and his wife Oniba Kauser Shakeel Ahmed were apprehended on July 6 last year at Hamad International Airport in Qatar on charges of drug peddling during their honeymoon trip.

They were carrying a bag given to them by their aunt Tabassum Riaz Quereshi who had told them it contained tobacco and was to be given to a person in the airport at Doha, said the official.

However, Qatar authorities claim 4.1 kilograms of hashish were found in the bag after which the couple was held and then sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Oniba's father Shakeel Ahmed Qureshi wrote to the NCB on September 27 last year requesting help to get the duo released.

The NCB has arrested Tabassum Riaz Quereshi, her associate Nizam Kara and six others in the case and the agency has been trying through diplomatic channels to get Qatar authorities to release the couple, he said.

It was found that Tabassum and Kara had gifted the couple the honeymoon package, he said, adding that Oniba's father had provided recording of telephone conversations between Shareeq and Tabassum as evidence.

The DG also took stock of the drug probe that began after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the official added.

Asthana left for Delhi on Friday morning, said the official.