By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Sindh province’s top police official said on Tuesday that investigators fear someone may try to harm a woman suspected of running a sophisticated cocaine distribution network, as authorities widen a sprawling probe that has already drawn in federal agencies, traced millions of rupees in bank transactions and raised questions about possible protection from influential figures.
Javed Alam Odho, inspector general of police for Sindh, told reporters that the suspect, known publicly as “Pinky” and also as “Anmol,” could be targeted to prevent the case from advancing and exposing a broader web of suppliers, buyers and facilitators.
The investigation has captivated public attention in Pakistan, where social media has been filled with unverified claims of links to police officers, wealthy clients and entertainment figures. “One concern is that someone may harm her so that the matter does not progress further,” Odho said during a televised news conference in Karachi. “Given the nature of her business, there is a possibility that many names will emerge.”
Anmol was arrested last week from an apartment in Karachi’s Garden area on narcotics charges and is also facing murder allegations among at least 15 cases registered against her. She is in police custody on physical remand until May 22 in two of those cases, with judicial remand in the others extending to May 30. A South Judicial Magistrate on Tuesday granted three additional days of physical remand in eight cases filed at Karachi’s Darakhshan and Gizri police stations.
The case has unfolded against the backdrop of growing alarm in Pakistan over the rising circulation of hard drugs — cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine, hashish and psychedelics — particularly among urban youth. Local media reports, which authorities have not publicly confirmed, have claimed that data from the suspect’s phone included contact information for police officials and television and file artists.
Odho, speaking both at the news conference and later at an event at the Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the inquiry now involves multiple federal bodies working in their respective domains to ensure transparency. The Federal Investigation Agency has been asked to examine potential money laundering through bank accounts, while the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency is probing the online sale of drugs, including alleged efforts to reach children and students through cyberspace.
Authorities have already identified one bank account through which nearly 30 million Pakistani rupees moved, Odho said. “This is not just one account,” he added. “More such accounts will be found. That is both our concern and our expectation.” He said narcotics trafficking has migrated online along with other crimes. “Since we entered the cyber age, many of our crimes have moved into cyberspace,” Odho said. “In the same way, narcotics trafficking has also shifted to cyberspace.”
The Sindh police chief stressed that investigators were focusing not only on street-level users but on bulk purchasers who effectively act as suppliers. “Those who purchase in bulk are more dangerous,” he said. “They are effectively working as suppliers … And they also have a role in corrupting society.” He vowed that such individuals “will not be let go under any circumstances.”
During her court appearances, Anmol has alleged that police pressured her “to take names” of politicians and other influential persons. Odho responded that suspects facing multiple cases are often under stress and that security measures around her were intended both to protect her from others and to prevent her from harming herself. “We have not provided security to her as such; only what was appropriate and needed,” he said.
The investigation began after Karachi police reviewed the suspect’s phone records, financial transactions and alleged connections across multiple cities, prompting the formation of a high-level joint team that includes intelligence officials. Police have also conducted broader anti-narcotics operations in recent weeks, arresting more than 1,000 suspects and seizing 40 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, known locally as “ice.”
According to officials, preliminary questioning indicated that Anmol claimed to have sold narcotics worth more than 20 million rupees per month in Karachi and to have paid hundreds of thousands of rupees monthly in bribes to various police stations in the city. She has told investigators she was initially detained in Lahore about 15 days before being transferred to Karachi, a claim authorities have not independently verified.
Odho cautioned the public against glamorizing the suspect, noting that she had mostly lived in Lahore. He said police were deliberately separating ordinary drug users from those higher in the supply chain. The inspector general described the multi-agency effort — involving the Sindh police, the Anti-Narcotics Force, the FIA and the cyber crime agency — as essential to tracing the full scope of the network. “Sensitive federal institutions are also with us,” he said, “so I believe that, God willing, we will get all the information to a great extent.”
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