New Delhi: “Run…run right now. Tushar has been caught,” Virender Baisoya urgently texted an associate after news broke of the first arrest in the 1,289-kg cocaine bust, the biggest so far in Delhi’s history.
The Baisoya brothers—Virender alias Veeru, and Ravinder—are at the centre of this massive drug haul that went down in October.
At the heart of Pilanji village, behind Delhi’s famous Sarojini Nagar market, in a house that screams extravagance, Virender and Ravinder’s 65-year-old mother maintains that her sons were “framed”.
At least 14 people have been arrested in the Rs 13,000 crore drug case so far that involved the smuggling of, what is suspected to be, Columbian cocaine via the sea route to be distributed across India.
The younger brother, Ravinder, nabbed in December, was the latest arrest in the case led by Delhi Police Additional Commissioner (Special Cell) Pramod Kushwaha and Deputy Commissioner (Special Cell) Amit Kaushik. Meanwhile, Virender, against whom a non-bailable warrant has been issued, is absconding.
Investigators told ThePrint that, along with being the India-Dubai-UK link, he was one of the masterminds in the case. Sources also said that he was connected to all the prime suspects.
“He was in direct touch with the key players—Jitendra Pal Singh, or Jassi, whom Virender texted post Tushar’s arrest; Jackson Fernandes, Tushar Goyal and the others in Dubai and the UK.
“He had assigned Tushar Goyal the task of the deliveries from Delhi and was in constant touch with them through social media apps. He had also tasked others with the logistics and the movement of the cocaine,” a police source told ThePrint.
Virender is believed to be in Dubai with his wife, according to Delhi Police.
Focus on Delhi village
The Baisoya brothers hail from Delhi and were raised in Pilanji village, believed to be over 1,100 years old. Predominantly inhabited by Gujjars, the village is home to many sharing the Baisoya surname.
“Everyone here is related, we are all Baisoyas. Virender and Ravinder’s father died several years ago and their eldest (sibling) had also died,” a 55-year-old resident, who wished to not be named, told ThePrint.
Tall and grey grill gates stand watch over Baisoya brothers’ residence, its grey and white interiors in sharp contrast with the exterior. Inside, their mother, who requested anonymity, firmly maintains that her sons were framed by Tushar Goyal.
“Virender does contractual work. He had recently got a tender for a hospital in Jammu. Ravinder didn’t have any work as such, we have properties on rent. He isn’t that educated. Virender is a graduate,” their mother said. “The police called Ravinder for questioning and he went there. He was arrested just because someone used his car. He didn’t know about the drugs.”
Tushar, whose father runs Tushar Publication and Tulip Publication; his driver Aurangzeb Siddiqui; his assistant, former bouncer Himanshu Kumar; and one Bharat Kumar from Mumbai were among the first arrests in the case, following a raid at a godown in Delhi’s Mahipalpur in October last year.
At least 560 kg of cocaine stuffed in eight US Polo apparel bags, and 23 cartons of Thai hydroponic marijuana were seized during the raid. Investigation into the marijuana case has so far revealed links only to Tushar and a Thai national.
It was after the first arrests, according to the probe, that Virender allegedly warned Jitendra Pal Singh to run.
On 3 October, 2024, Singh was arrested at Amritsar airport trying to flee the country. At the time, 1 kg of cocaine was also found in a car—a black Fortuner—that was registered in Ravinder’s name and was being used by him.
“The others arrested first framed my sons. They took Virender’s name. They had come for my grandson’s wedding. I don’t know since when they were friends. The families don’t know each other,” the mother further added. Virender’s elder son’s wedding was held in February 2024.
Investigators told ThePrint that Ravinder had been absconding since the Mahipalpur seizure in October and had returned to meet his family at the time of his arrest.
Furthermore, according to sources in the police, as reported by ThePrint earlier, Virender and Tushar met in Tihar about two decades ago. Virender had been jailed in another drug case and Goyal had been arrested under sections of the Arms Act.
According to investigators, the key players—including Tushar and Ravinder, who are in judicial custody—could have made at least 35 crores if the entire consignment of cocaine was sold.
From sea route to Delhi
Three months before the October raids, investigators had received tips on the arrival of a huge consignment through the sea route but didn’t know the exact route.
“The cocaine was supposed to be delivered across India. We had been sitting and waiting for the delivery date. It was when Bharat Kumar came (to Delhi) to collect the cocaine that he and the others were nabbed. Kumar was the dealer for Mumbai,” a source said.
Then, on 1 October, they received input on the arrival of the consignment after which the team raided Tushar’s godown the same day. The first hint of a huge influx of contraband first came to the notice of the police, who were monitoring Virender, when they found that he was, under the name ‘Veeru’, talking to another person on social media about the cocaine and their deliveries.
Sources said that the origin of the cocaine will be clear after Virender is nabbed, but the cocaine is suspected to be Columbian and is believed to have reached Gujarat via the sea route from Dubai. “Several central agencies are working on getting Virender to India,” another source said.
After the Mahipalpur raid on 1 October, a shop in Ramesh Nagar was raided on 10 October and another 208 kgs of the contraband, in namkeen packets, was seized.
Without naming the accused, investigators said that a UK national of Indian origin had rented the shop and is currently absconding. Four days after this seizure, the Delhi Police special cell raided the manufacturing unit of Gujarat-based company Aavkar Drugs in Ankleshwar, which makes precursors for cough syrups. It seized another 518 kgs of the contraband.
Five people were arrested, including the partner of the firm, Brijesh Kothiya, and two directors Ashwani Ramani and Vijay Bhesaniya. Two other employees—Mayur Desale and Amit Bhai—were also arrested.
“Once the cocaine reached Goa from Dubai, the consignment was processed in Ankleshwar to Delhi via Ghaziabad. As per the accused’s plan, the whole consignment was supposed to be distributed by the main dealers, contacts of Virender Baisoya within a day or two,” another source said.
“Each dealer was asked to use a particular note of the Indian currency, the serial number of which was to be the identification code for (Tushar) Goyal to recognise them. The photos of these notes were already shown to Goyal by Virender and then the dealers were to physically show them the exact note once they reached to collect the cocaine,” they added.
Investigators said that the drugs from Ankleshwar to Delhi came in different packages in trucks and cars.
Earlier this month, along with Ravinder, the police also arrested Goa native Jackson Fernandes from Mumbai. He is accused of running multiple shell companies, managing mule accounts for financial transactions, and managing properties for storing the drugs.
“There are multiple dealers in this case. We are tracing all of them. So far, kingpins have been identified in Dubai and the UK,” another source said.
According to investigators, the planning for shipping, receiving and selling the contraband started at least a year ago. They found that shell pharmaceutical companies were created, people were hired to run the companies, and websites were designed at least six months before the consignment reached India.
An ‘extravagant’ wedding
In Pilanji, from the medical shop owner to a vegetable vendor, everyone knows the Baisoya brothers, and, if not about the arrest, they definitely want to talk about the wedding of Virender’s elder son.
The 55-year-old resident quoted earlier described it as “big and extravagant”.
“It was done in a hotel… I don’t remember the name but the preparation went on for a year. Very rich people, the who’s who of Delhi and even people from other places attended the wedding celebrations. They had multiple functions, it was like a festival.”
According to investigators, Virender fled the country right after his son’s wedding. This followed raids across Delhi and Pune in the “biggest” ever seizure of mephedrone, known on the streets as Meow Meow, worth Rs 3,200 crore in February 2024.
Virender is a key suspect in that case too.
However, the Baisoya family maintains that Virender didn’t flee after the raids. They say he lives with his wife in Dubai and only came for the wedding.
“They have ancestral property which they have leased out. We just know that the elder son has some business,” a 36-year-old Pilanji resident, on condition of anonymity, said. “They have always been well-to-do but in the past 10 years or so, it appears like their wealth has tripled. The wedding made it clear to all.”
A police source said, “Their (Baisoya) financial transactions, the wealth—it’s all unaccounted for. There is no other income source to validate the money they have. This is all drug money. Tushar would also party with them in pubs and clubs and we suspect they would supply contraband even at these parties.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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