Forensic analysis of alleged drug peddler Anmol, alias Pinky, has yielded 869 contacts, Karachi Additional Inspector General (AIG) Azad Khan said on Friday, adding the process to locate these individuals is presently underway.
“We are trying to determine the location of those contacts. We have received the location of 639 contacts, of which only 132 are in Karachi,” he said, noting this indicated her network was not limited to the Sindh capital alone.
Addressing a press conference from Karachi, he provided details on progress in the investigation into Anmol’s alleged business, which came to light earlier this week after a video of her being presented in court went viral. Khan said 300 of the contacts identified by investigators were “fully involved in this drug-related” activity. He said police was seeking to categorize all contacts as either “victims”—those addicted to drugs—or “accused,” those selling the drugs, or “harborers,” those facilitating the network through their influence. He vowed that regardless of financial or political influence, police would ensure that anyone found in the third category would be taken into custody.
According to the official, authorities have found 20 cases against Anmol in Sindh, as well as three in Lahore. Of the 20 in Sindh, he said, 17 were old, while one of the remaining three was registered with the Anti-Narcotics Force. He said police were seeking additional details on the status of the cases in Lahore.
Khan said the suspect was arrested in nine of the previously registered cases and had been acquitted in six of them. “She was declared a proclaimed offender in three cases and an absconder in the ANF case,” he added. He said there were an additional nine cases registered against individuals believed to be linked to her network, primarily riders. “Her name was not mentioned in the cases when they were registered,” he said.
Detailing some of Anmol’s history, the AIG alleged she started drug peddling in 2014, launching her operations in Karachi in 2018. “She used to do it online but when she came on radar here, she moved to Lahore,” he said. On financial transactions related to Anmol, he said police had thus far examined a 500-page bank statement from the past year-and-a-half, totaling transactions of more than Rs. 30 million.
“The biggest transaction has been made by an account under the name of an individual named Anna from Lahore—the amount is around nine million or more,” he said.
According to Khan, police also conducted a raid of Anmol’s old residence and recovered a cache of cocaine. “We have registered a separate case regarding that,” he said.
During today’s briefing, the AIG said the alleged drug network also appeared to have foreign involvement, indicating its operations were transnational in nature. “We have come across information that some foreigners from African countries are involved in this network, who are in Lahore. They may be six to eight in number,” he alleged. “Similarly, some Lahore-based women are also involved in this network,” he added.
Khan also rebutted reports alleging Anmol was arrested from Lahore and transported to Karachi. He affirmed that Karachi police, in a joint raid with a civilian intelligence agency, had arrested her from her apartment in Karachi earlier this week in connection with two cases pertaining to the possession of narcotics and an unlicensed weapon.