New Delhi: A suspected drug supplier, who was evading arrest since February, was nabbed by the special cell of Delhi Police, a senior police official said Thursday. The accused, identified as Ashfaq Khan, was carrying a reward of Rs 50,000. The special cell has busted several drug cartels this year and seized huge consignments of heroin. Earlier this year, police had arrested three persons -- Ram Nath, Virender Pal Singh and Parvej Khan -- and seized five kg of heroin from their possession, the official said.

A case was registered and during interrogation, the three arrested persons disclosed that they had brought heroin from West Bengal on the instance of Ashfaq, a native of Bareilly, he said. Based on a tip-off, a police team was deployed in Bareilly's Behra village on November 13 and Ashfaq was held. In Behra village, growing opium for medicinal purposes was legal, but after a ban was imposed on cultivation of opium in Badaun and Bareilly districts, Ashfaq started procuring heroin from drug dealers in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the official said.

He also procured heroin from Naxal-affected areas in Jharkhand and West Bengal, the official said, adding that he used to supply the same to drug dealers in UP, Delhi and NCR. Ashfaq used to receive big consignments of heroin from suppliers in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam, he said. The accused was earlier arrested by Delhi Police's Crime Branch in 2013.