04 May,2010 09:48 AM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
Two people from Gujarat, here to allegedly sell 1.7 kg of brown sugar, were caught by the Pune rural police near Lonavla. The brown sugar seized was estimated to be worth Rs 3.4 crore.
The police said it was the first time people from Gujarat had been arrested for drug trafficking in or around the city. The police also said they suspected a big nexus at work.
The two arrested were Mahesh Vanmali Patel and Paresh Shantilal Patel from Chitrapipali Rajpipali village of the neighbouring state. The police said they were at Hotel Anand near Warsoli, Lonavla.
Police Inspector Bhausaheb Andalkar and API Dnyaneshwar Ganore with their team laid a trap and caught the accused.
Andalkar said, "We are checking the contacts on their cell phones, which will lead us to the others in the network. They came to Pune via Mumbai in a Honda City from Surat. We had concrete information about their appearance and the vehicle so as soon as they went to Hotel Anand, we nabbed them."
The team of 10 police officials caught the suspects, in their early 30s, with the drugs in a black bag found on them. The two were remanded in police custody till May 12.
"The accused have been booked for possessing a large amount of brown sugar under the NDPS Act," Police Superintendent Pratap Dighavkar said. "The investigation will reveal if there is a bigger racket involved."
In 2006, the Pune rural police had recovered 2 kg brown sugar worth Rs 5 crore.
Dighavkar said, "According to the state government anti-narcotics circular, the price of brown sugar in the Indian market is Rs 1 lakh per kilogram, but according to International anti-narcotics guidelines, the price is higher."
