13 May,2024 07:08 AM IST | Mumbai | Apoorva Agashe
Police officers with two of the arrested accused and the contraband
An interrogation of a suspicious man, initially detained last year during New Year bandobast, prompted the Saki Naka police to conduct a thorough investigation into a drug link that further helped the cops bust a âmeow meow' (mephedrone/MD) factory in Rajasthan. A total of four people have been arrested while one person has been kept under detention. The police seized 3 kg of contraband and other raw materials worth Rs 107.67 crore from the drug factory in Rajasthan.
According to the police, they had arrested Sarfaraz Shaikh, 22, last year during the New Year bandobast, due to his "suspicious behaviour".
Based on Shaikh's inputs, the police arrested Majid Shaikh, 44, and Abdul Shaikh, 44. Upon interrogation, they revealed that they had procured the drug from Pune, leading the cops to detain Prashant Patil.
During interrogation, Patil said that he procured drugs from Rajasthan. He informed the police about the drug factory in Jodhpur. "Hence, we acted swiftly and detained the owner Hukumram Chaudhary, 40," said a police officer.
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According to the police, Chaudhary owned the factory in an abandoned area in Jodhpur and had stored raw materials to make MD in its godown. "We raided the factory and found MD and other raw materials worth Rs 107.67 crore," said the police officer.
Last year, the Sakinaka police busted a major drug syndicate in Nashik and arrested drug lord Lalit Patil, his brother Bhushan and 17 others for running his syndicate. The police are yet to investigate whether Nashik's drug racket has any links with the Rajasthan drug factory. "The investigation is at its primary stage and we will investigate the matter thoroughly," a police officer said, adding that all the accused have been booked under relevant sections of the NDPS Act.
The Saki Naka police have seized 67.5 kg of MD in liquid form, worth Rs 101.25 crore. They have also seized 1 kg of MD in powder form worth R3 crore and other raw materials from the godown of the factory in Rajasthan. The total seizure, which includes the liquid form of MD, the drug in powder form and raw materials amounts to Rs 107.62 crore.
