New Delhi, October 3: Navpreet Singh, described by Union Home Minister Amit Shah as a hardened narco-trafficking kingpin, has been deported from Türkiye and brought back to India, where he has been put behind bars. Shah said Singh had taken Turkish citizenship under the fake identity of Navab Virk and carried on smuggling heroin and methamphetamine into India from Afghanistan.
Singh will face cases involving drug trafficking and other crimes he is accused of. Shah announced the deportation in a post on X on Saturday and congratulated all the agencies involved, calling it a “historic milestone”.
How agencies tracked down Navpreet Singh
“Our agencies tracked him down, ripping apart veil after veil to unmask his true identity, and secured his deportation,” Shah wrote. He added that the government was “committed to destroying every narco-cartel before Dec 2029”.
288 fugitives brought back since 2019
According to the Home Ministry, 288 fugitives have been brought back to India from 36 countries between 2019 and August 2026 under a coordinated campaign. The ministry said the government has made the extradition of fugitives a “national priority”.
Shah has set out a three-pronged approach to the problem: global outreach, strong coordination and smart diplomacy. He has described fugitive offenders as an issue linked to the country’s sovereignty, economic stability, law and order and national security.
The ministry said amendments to the NIA Act and the UAPA in 2019 widened enforcement beyond proscribed organisations to individual terrorists, handlers, funding networks and support systems based abroad. From 2020, the work of bringing fugitive offenders back to India was taken up in mission mode.
BHARATPOL and faster information-sharing
Shah launched BHARATPOL in January 2025 to bring the CBI, state police headquarters (through Interpol Liaison Officers) and district police headquarters onto a single platform. More than 1,400 units of state and central agencies are now connected through the portal.
The ministry said information sought by the CBI is now generally shared by other law enforcement agencies within 10 to 20 days, and in some cases within three to 10 days. This, it said, has made investigations and extradition proceedings more efficient.
Assets attached and Red Corner Notices
Assets worth ₹17,874 crore belonging to fugitive criminals were attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) between 2019 and 2026, according to the ministry.
Over the past three years, Red Corner Notices have been issued against 401 fugitive criminals. The ministry said 182 Red Corner Notices had been issued up to July 2026.
Related: Amit Shah sets 2029 deadline to end drug trade at ANTF conference