Crime news: Two held with mephedrone worth Rs 10.9 lakh in Navi Mumbai

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Police in Navi Mumbai arrested two persons after seizing mephedrone, a banned drug, worth Rs 10.90 lakh from their possession, an official said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of the police's Anti-Narcotics Cell intercepted the two persons on Tuesday evening at Pendhar Phata on Kalamboli-Mumbra road in Taloja area when they were travelling on a scooter, newswire PTI reported.

During checking, the police recovered 107 gm of mephedrone from the duo, aged 28 and 36, the official from Taloja police station said, adding their scooter was also seized.

They have been booked under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the police said.

Man from Navi Mumbai loses Rs 4.07 lakh in cryptocurrency fraud

In other news, a 38-year-old man from Navi Mumbai was allegedly cheated of Rs 4.07 lakh by three persons who lured him to invest money in bitcoin trading on the false promise of good returns, police said on Thursday.

The accused, including two women, claimed to be associated with a company and sent the man a link of the firm to invest in bitcoin trading, newswire PTI reported.

Between March and June this year, the man invested Rs 4,07,536 through the digital platform after being assured of good returns in a short period, a Navi Mumbai police official said.

Also read: Maharashtra: Pune crime branch arrests two accomplices in drug lord's escape

When the man sought the returns as promised, the accused stopped communicating with him.

The man then approached the APMC police in Navi Mumbai with a complaint, based on which a case was registered on Wednesday against the three accused under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) and provisions of the Information Technology Act.

A probe was on into the case, the police said.

Meanwhile, in an intensified fight against the child-selling racket, Mumbai Crime Branch's Unit 09 has rescued two more toddlers, making it a total of four saved children. Three more individuals were arrested, raising the accused count to 11. Sources reveal over 30 babies suspected to have been sold, with some now aged between five and 10 years.

Officials are carefully handling legal matters to rescue these children from their illegal adoptive parents, considering the potential stress on the kids from a sudden rescue. In a recent breakthrough, the crime branch successfully rescued a 29-day-old newborn, suspected to have been stolen by a gang, as the mother remains untraceable. The child was found in Chiplun. Another case involved the rescue of a fourteen-month-old baby girl from Bhiwandi. An officer from Unit 09 said, "We suspect the arrested gang's involvement in child theft, considering their silence about the 29-day-old baby's mother, whom we are still trying to locate."