PANJIM, FEB 15
Nigerian drug peddler Daniel Fernandez, who was caught along with Bhanu Chander alias DJ Nash, the son of a retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, for allegedly peddling cocaine to one Murali, brother of Telugu film actress Jeevitha and his associate P Rambabu in Hyderabad on Saturday, came to India as a student and did an IT course at NIIT Chandigarh, before taking to the drug trade.
According to a report in the ‘New Indian Express’, Daniel is the son of a doctor and is a qualified chemical engineer. His confession, recorded by the cops and submitted in the Nampally court in Hyderabad, says that after completing his engineering course, he opened a clothing shop in Nigeria, but had to wind it up after heavy losses. He then came to India to pursue a six-month IT course in Chandigarh.
For some time after he completed the course, Daniel shuttled between Nigeria and India. In July 2010, he made Goa his base and has since been peddling drugs. It was around this time that Chander alias DJ Nash met Daniel in Goa. Nash had moved to Goa from Hyderabad in March 2010, and was working in various pubs.
Allegedly a drug addict himself, Nash became a regular customer for Daniel. Nash made friendships with several foreigners, especially Africans, and allegedly started selling cocaine in Hyderabad.
“I started selling it to several persons in Hyderabad. Over time, it became a full-time vocation, as it turned out to be much more lucrative than my original profession. I made easy money”, Nash has said in his confession.
to the Jubilee Hills police in Hyderabad.
