DRI raids ketamine units in Gujarat, Goa, Maharashtra; busts international syndicate
Panaji, June 13: In a three-day operation code-named "Operation Vitamin", the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted an international drug syndicate, a statement issued by the enforcement agency on Wednesday said.
The DRI officials have seized 308 kg ketamine and a huge quantity of raw material from various sites in Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, and arrested 10 persons including two British nationals and one from Vietnam.
"This pan-India network was controlled by an international drug syndicate. In all, about 308 kg of ketamine has been seized by DRI along with 2,000 kg of raw material enough to manufacture another 250 kg. The significance of this seizure can be gauged from the fact that all-India seizure of ketamine during the calendar year 2016 was 68.06 kg only," the DRI statement said.
"In DRI operation, total 10 persons, including the main organisers and financiers of the manufacturing facilities/ laboratories, sellers and buyers in the supply chain have been apprehended under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985.
"Out of the apprehended persons, three are foreign nationals, two from the UK and one from Vietnam," the statement said, adding that these three persons were "key members of an international syndicate which had close linkages in South-East Asia and Canada".
Ketamine is a potent anaesthetic commonly used in veterinary medicine. However, this drug is extremely popular as a recreational drug in the rave parties due to the detached high it provides.
The statement said that the drug smuggling syndicate is believed to have supplied ketamine to international drug traffickers in countries like Sri Lanka, Mozambique, the United Kingdom, Canada, Malaysia, Nepal, Australia, Vietnam and Kenya, mostly through courier and postal services.
In addition to ketamine, DRI teams also recovered small quantities of other drugs suspected to be cocaine and hashish during the raid.
"The drug syndicate had a well-established chain of supply within India and abroad, which has been neutralized. The payments for the raw material and finished products were taking place through hawala channels," the statement read.
In Goa, the raid was conducted at Vijay Industries located in an industrial estate in Bicholim sub district on Tuesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in Goa have been sparring over the raid, with the opposition Congress claiming that the factory was being run by a BJP office-bearer. The BJP has called the allegations baseless.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
