20 July,2019 02:00 PM IST | Mumbai | Samiullah Khan
The accused arrested by Palghar local crime branch. All pics/Hanif Patel
The Palghar local crime branch on Friday busted a racket used to supply Laudanum (Afeem) to the various Tea stalls, paan stalls and various people in Palghar. The Waliv police seized around 69 Kg Laudanum and stem braces of the plant which is worth around 1.58 crores.
During the patrolling, the local crime branch officer PSI Hitendra Vichare and his staff intercepted a sports utility vehicle from which they seized 11240 grams opium and 69 kgs Laudanum worth Rs 1.58 crore in the illegal market. The official also recovered 4.5Lakh cash.
Sonaram Bishnoi (33) and Bhajanlal Bishnoi (22) were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. They both hail from Rajasthan and were dealt with gas cylinder business in Jodhpur but as their pick-up van was stolen, they resorted to smuggling drugs to compensate for their loss.
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The police said, "Initially they started supplying opium in small quantities in Palghar especially to the tea and paan stalls, Dhaba and hotels which gave them huge returns in a very short period of time. When they realised that the demand for opium is more, they started supplying on a large scale. The accused Sonaram used to stay in Naigaon Vasai east area and used to take orders from the people while the other accused used to transport opium from Rajasthan to Palghar using private vehicles.
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PRO Hemant Katkar from Palghar district said, "The local crime branch has booked and arrested the accused under various section of NDPS act and they will be produced before the court.
Under the guidance of Palghar SP Gaurav Singh, the local crime branch senior officer Jitendra Vankoti, API Sidhdva Joybhaye the PSI Hitendra Vichare and his team have done a remarkable job."
Further probe into the drug network is underway.
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