Delhi court grants 3-day police custody to drug case accused Ritik Bajaj

Ritik Bajaj, an accused in a major drug haul case, has been granted three days' police custody by Delhi's Tis Hazari Court. Repatriated from Dubai, Bajaj is linked to a seizure of over 600 kg of illicit drugs. Police sought custody to bust the cartel.

Delhi's Tis Hazari Court has granted three days' Police custody of Ritik Bajaj, who is an accused in a major drug haul case. He was repatriated from Dubai on Tuesday.According to a statement, Special Judge (NDPS) Virender Singh remanded Ritik Bajaj of three days' Police custody till December 26 after considering the seriousness of the allegations."I consider granting 03 days PC remand of the accused. Hence, accused Ritik Bajaj is sent to 03 days PC remand till 26.12.2025, and he will be produced on 26.12.2025," Special judge ordered on December 23.The court permitted the accused to speak with counsel of his choice for at least 15 minutes each day during his police custody. The Investigation Officer (IO) was directed to immediately provide a memo of arrest to the accused.

Court's Rationale for Custody

While granting police custody, he considered the volume of recovered illicit drugs, 563 kg of Cocaine and Mephedrone and 40 kg of Hydroponic Thai Ghanja, as well as the fact that there are several accused people and electronic evidence about 1 TB.

The court noted that the Delhi Police had already filed the main charge sheet against several co-accused and that the accused must have had knowledge about the registration of the present case, and that it was registered on October 2, 2025. Furthermore, the court found it evident that the accused had absconded and had not cooperated during the investigation.

Police Seek to Bust Complete Chain

Delhi police moved an application and sought 7 days of police custody of the Accused Ritik Bajaj. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Akhand Pratap Singh for Delhi police submitted that custody of accused is required to identify and trace other drug cartels and to bust the complete chain of illegal drug substance trafficking racket in Delhi/NCR and other states of India; to confront the accused with the data recovered from the seized mobiles phone of co-accused and to recover mobile phones and passport of present accused and to trace out all backward and forward linkages of drug smuggling racket.

Defense Alleges Illegal Arrest

Advocate Prabhav Ralli, alongwith Samrat Saxena and Deeya Mittal, appeared for the Accused. The Counsels for the accused objected to the present application on the ground that the arrest of the accused itself was illegal.

They further submitted that the accused was last in India on November 26, 2024, and thereafter went abroad and remained outside India. It was also submitted that non-bailable warrants (NBWs) were issued at the accused's previous address, and, according to the NBW report, the address was found locked. Since the accused was not available at the said address, he was not aware of the present proceedings. They further submitted that the Investigating Agency was also aware that the accused is not available at that place and he was somewhere outside India.

Prosecution Rebuttal

In rebuttal, SPP Akhand Pratap Singh argued that the Accused had already challenged his arrest, the issuance of NBWs, and his declaration as a proclaimed offender (PO). The said matter is reserved for order before the Delhi High Court. (ANI)

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