‘Goa’s Israeli drug dealer is a wanted man at home’

PANAJI - Israeli drug dealer Yaniv Benaim alias Atala, who jumped bail in August and escaped to Israel, has 16 criminal cases against him in his home country, a senior police officer said Wednesday.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) Chandrakant Salgaonkar told reporters here that Atala, who has been linked to Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik’s son, was a wanted man in Israel.

“Atala is a wanted man in Israel. The Interpol has written to us that he has 15 convictions in offences ranging from drug peddling, assault, theft and fraud,” said Salgaonkar adding that Atala had come to India in order to flee the law in Israel.

The officer further said that, according to the Interpol report, the Israeli police were also investigating a case against him which involved obstructing law officers from discharging their duties.

“There are no chances of Atala roaming freely there (in Israel). The Israeli police will take necessary action against him,” Salgaonkar said.

The officer further said the Goa police had already asked Interpol to contact the authorities in Israel to track Atala down.

Atala is one of the main cogs in the police-politician-drug mafia nexus, in which Home Minister Ravi Naik’s son Roy is linked, according to a witness in the drug mafia case.

Atala was arrested in March after his Swedish model girl friend Lucky Farmhouse uploaded videos of him boasting of his links to senior policemen and politicians on www.youtube.com.

Seven policemen have been arrested for being a part of the narcotics mafia in the state.

The police investigation into the drug nexus case in which several senior police officials and politicians are linked has also been criticised by the opposition and media as well as the Bombay High Court — the latter even observing that the investigators were trying to prevent political skeletons from tumbling out in course of the investigations.