Drug mafia linkmen arrested

Two Nashik residents, linked to a Himachal Pradesh-based gang, were arrested on Monday with contraband including 1.6 kg charas, ganja

Drug mafia linkmen arrested

Two Nashik residents, linked to a Himachal Pradesh-based gang, were arrested on Monday with contraband including 1.6 kg charas, ganja

Close on the heels of the arrest of suspected drug peddler Jyoti Gulabrao Bende (30) on July 30 by the Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC), the Pune police notched up yet another success after they nabbed contraband worth
Rs 6 lakh on Monday night from two drug peddlers.

Charas, ganja
The FIR registered at the Bund Garden police station mentions 1.6 kg of charas, ganja, a weighing machine and some mobile phones as part of the seized contraband.

Rajendra Dahale, deputy commissioner of police, (cyber crime and economic offences wing), said, "We have identified a drug dealer in Himachal Pradesh and his name has been withheld for investigation purpose."

The arrests were made at the Pune railway station on Monday night and both the accused, who are residents of Nashik, are linked to Bende. "When Bende and another drug peddler Vivek Kumar (35), residents of Yerwada and Mundhawa respectively, were interrogated, they revealed the names of Nashik-residents Ayub Ghafur Pathan (42) and Gajanan Prahlad Kakade (28). A team of eight cops, including API Bajirao Patil, Pradeep Shinde, Eknath Khule, Mohammad Sheikh, Deepak Mate, Deepak Sawant and Lakshman Thorat, caught them red-handed with the contraband," said PI G V Nikam. He added that the gang supplied drugs to a number of high-profile clients.

Drug supply
The ANC, along with Bund Garden and Kondhwa police, has apprehended over 40 kg of narcotics in the last six months, including heroin, marijuana, and opium. "The traditional centres of narcotics sale, including Yerwada, Mundhwa and Indira Nagar, are now non-operational. Peddlers are now selling drugs to the moneyed Indians as well as foreigners who rent flats in areas like Koregaon Park," said Nikam.