Techie, BPO owner held for possessing cocaine

Anti-Terrorism Cell seizes 610 grams of narcotic worth Rs 30.5 lakh from drug traffickers

Techie, BPO owner held for possessing cocaine

Anti-Terrorism Cell seizes 610 grams of narcotic worth Rs 30.5 lakh from drug traffickers

The Pune Anti-Terrorism Cell (PATC) has seized 610 grams of cocaine worth Rs 30.5 lakh from a 22-year-old software professional and a owner of Gujarat-based BPO company. The youths were arrested yesterday from the area near Racecourse. The police said it should be biggest seizures of cocaine recently.u00a0u00a0

Big haul: Police escort the two men arrested on charges of possessing
cocaine yesterday. Pic/Janhavi

The suspects have been identified as Murtaza Kasam Ved (22), a resident of Chaugale Mala in Wanawadi and Tarang Patel (24) from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The two have been charged under sections of Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and a case has been registered at the Wanawadi police station.

Murtaza, an IT professional, works as a technical analyst with a software company in the city. Patel has been operating a call centre for an insurance company in Ahmedabad for the last couple of years. Along with the cocaine the suspects were carrying in packets, police have also seized a Hyundai Ascent car from them.
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"We had got a tip-off that a person named Murtaza is going to receive a large consignment of cocaine from a person in Gujarat. We then laid a trap near Racecourse area, following which a car bearing a Gujarat licence plate was spotted.

We arrested the suspects after keeping track of their car," said Police Inspector Sunil Tambe of PATC. "The cocaine seized is in pure form and valued anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 per gram. We are investigating more into the case to find out the actual source and the receiver in the city."

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