Mumbai: African peddlers and cops' war gets ugly; constable hit on head

Kone Adama has been charged with attempt to murder after he assaulted Railway Protection Force Constable Salim Shaikh

African drug peddlers are back at the Sandhurst Road railway tracks, and so is their war with the police. Just three months after a massive drugs bust at the spot, a narcotics gang attacked a joint team of Mumbai police and railway cops on Wednesday, leaving an RPF constable with a head injury. The cops arrested one of the dealers, who had hit the cop with a bamboo pole.

Three months ago, in July, a similar attack on an assistant police inspector prompted the cops to launch a massive manhunt for African dealers operating along the Sandhurst Road tracks (see box). At the time, the police had arrested eight peddlers.

On the head with a bamboo pole on Wednesday night

Blow to the head
On Wednesday night, the joint team from the Dongri police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) raided the spot upon receiving information that the gang was back peddling narcotics at the tracks. A total of 20 officers and 40 constables were divided into five teams to patrol the stretch and catch the peddlers.

"Around 11.10 pm, seven to eight peddlers were spotted by one of the teams, and all the cops surrounded the area," said an officer. However, the accused began pelting stones at the police, forcing them to take cover. However, Salim Shaikh, 32, RPF constable from Wadi Bunder, managed to nab one of the hoodlums - Kone Adama, 28 - who tried to escape his clutches by hitting him on the head with a bamboo staff. The police arrested Adama and rushed Shaikh to hospital. The constable is out of danger and was discharged after treatment.

RPF official Salim Shaikh

Adama, was identified as a Nigerian national, and the police seized 10 grams of cocaine and 16 grams of MD from him. Around six to seven of his accomplices managed to flee under the cover of dark. This is the same spot where numerous attacks took place on the police in the past.

"The accused, along with his accomplices who are on the run, have been booked for attempt to murder, assault, rioting, as well as under the NDPS Act," said Sandeep Bhagdikar, senior police inspector of Dongri police station.

Kone Adama has been charged with attempt to murder after hitting RPF constable Salim Shaikh on the head with a bamboo pole

Three months ago...
In July, Assistant Police Inspector Amar Marathe suffered a head injury after some drug peddlers pelted stones at him during an Anti-Narcotics Cell raid at the tracks. The ANC had then launched Operation AM and arrested eight peddlers. This was after 10 citizens were injured in a clash between Byculla residents and Nigerian drug peddlers on June 7.

Earlier in 2016, eight policemen were injured during Crime Branch's Operation Sabak. When the peddlers started pelting stones at the cops, they were forced to fire three rounds in the air to scare them away.

The railways have started to clean up the stretch from CSMT to Masjid, but are yet to begin on the length between Masjid and Sandhurst Road.

Also Read: Mumbai police conducts raid to nab Nigerian drug peddlers in Byculla

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