Five Mumbai cops hurt in operation to nab Nigerian peddlers

Obiorah Ekwelar, the accused (right) Shrikant Raut, one of the injured NCB officers

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Mumbai, has launched an operation, named Apocalypse, to nab a gang of Nigerian nationals who deal drugs in the forest area between the Mankhurd and Vashi.

During the raid on Thursday, several NCB officers were severely injured when the alleged drug peddlers pelted stones at them. However, they were able to nab one of them, later identified as Obiorah Ekwelar. Others managed to flee as he used a laser light to alert them.

NCB officers said the dense forest patch is spread over 4 km. A railway track runs between the forest and the highway, and one of the drug peddlers stands by the highway to keep a watch for law enforcement authorities, they added.

Three teams comprising six NCB officers each started the raid at 9 pm on Thursday, and entered the forested patch from three different sides. One team entered from the highway side, another from the Vashi side and the third team from the Mankhurd side.

Caught by surprise, the drug peddler standing by the highway signalled his accomplices using a laser light and tried to flee, but was caught after a chase.

The drug peddlers who were inside the forest pelted stones on the team that entered, injuring five officers. Though five-six peddlers fled, the officers managed to seize drugs worth over R1 crore, including cocaine, MD and heroin. The NCB had been planning to nab these men for the past four months.

An NCB officer told mid-day that these people trade drugs in the jungle area near the railway track between Mankhurd to Vashi, and also have weapons. "There is a forest area next to the track and there is a creek as soon as the forest ends. A Nigerian national, who was fleeing after pelting stones at the NCB officers, jumped into the creek and fled."

NCB zonal director Sameer Wankhede told mid-day, "Based on information we had gathered, we launched a special operation between 9 pm and midnight on Thursday. As it was dark, all they managed to escape. But we caught one and he will be presented in the court on Saturday... This is the second incident of attack on NCB officers in the past seven days."

The injured officers were identified as Shrikant Raut, Pramod More, Amol More, Sameer Salekar and Kiran Rawalkar.