Baltej Singh, a New Zealand businessman and the nephew of one of Indira Gandhi’s assassins who is serving a 22-year prison sentence in New Zealand for masterminding one of the country’s largest methamphetamine importation operations, has lost a legal bid to keep his name suppressed. His identity was revealed on Saturday by New Zealand media outlet Stuff after courts lifted name suppression orders granted over fears that his family’s notoriety among Sikhs and Hindus worldwide could expose them to harm. New Zealand authorities say Baltej Singh played a central role in an international drug-smuggling network (X/@NoticerNews)

In an affidavit presented to the court, Singh’s father had previously told a New Zealand court that the family had faced threats, intimidation and hostility after the assassination made them “notorious” among Sikh and Hindu communities worldwide, Stuff reported.

The court initially accepted those concerns, ruling that the risk to the safety of Singh’s relatives outweighed the public interest in open justice. But the New Zealand government appealed and in November, the court overturned the order, finding there was an “appreciable public interest” in identifying a man responsible for importing an unprecedented quantity of drugs into New Zealand. Judges said anyone motivated by revenge connected to the 1984 assassination would likely already know Singh’s identity and assessed that the risk of harm from revealing his name was very low, Stuff reported.

Singh had initially sought to challenge the ruling before the Supreme Court but later abandoned that effort, Stuff reported.

New Zealand authorities say Singh played a central role in an international drug-smuggling network that concealed methamphetamine inside commercial shipments labelled as beverages.

In 2021, cans of coconut water arriving in New Zealand from New Delhi were found to contain dissolved methamphetamine and ephedrine, a precursor chemical used to manufacture the drug, Stuff reported.

In 2022, containers arriving in New Zealand from Canada and the US carried tens of thousands of cans of “Honey Bear” lager beer and bottles of kombucha. Police later discovered the beverages were being used to transport liquid methamphetamine into the country.

The drugs were sent to an industrial unit where they were converted into crystal meth. Police seized more than 700kg of liquid and crystallised methamphetamine — the largest haul ever uncovered by New Zealand.

The operation came to light after one of the cans of beer was mistakenly given to a 21-year-old man by an associate of Singh, Himatjit Singh Kahlon, who was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Days after the victim was hospitalised, police arrested Baltej Singh at Auckland International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Dubai.