Heroin worth over Rs 13 crore seized in Thane; man with underworld links among 3 held
Thane (PTI): Police in Maharashtra’s Thane city have seized more than 4 kg of heroin worth over Rs 13 crore and arrested three persons in connection with the drug during a special operation, officials said.
One of the arrested accused allegedly had links with Mumbai’s underworld, and his name had also cropped up during the probe into the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, a senior official said.
In a crackdown in the early hours of February 3, a crime branch team seized heroin, a highly addictive drug, valued at Rs 6.9 crore, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Amarsingh Jadhav on Friday evening.
Police nabbed 47-year-old Wajahat Sayeed near a school in the Diva area with the contraband. His interrogation led to the arrest of his associate, Mohammad Mahadik (67), identified by investigators as the primary supplier.
Police said Mahadik was an accused who fled India shortly after the 1993 blasts. After absconding for nearly 22 years, during which he worked in Muscat and Oman under a fake identity, he slipped back into the country, DCP Jadhav said.
He was a well-connected figure in the 1990s underworld, police said.
“Mahadik has a long criminal history... and he had good relations with all the gangs then, including Dawood Ibrahim and others,” an official said. His prior criminal record includes murder, kidnapping, extortion, and a previous arrest for using a fraudulent passport.
In another haul, a crime branch team intercepted a 50-year-old autorickshaw driver, identified as Fardin Gulzar Mulla, in the Ghodbunder area on February 1 and seized heroin valued at more than Rs 6.68 crore.
More than 4 kg of heroin, worth over Rs 13 crore, has been collectively seized in both cases, police said.
A probe is underway to ascertain the source of the drug and the intended customers, as well as to identify other members of the drug supply network, said DCP Jadhav.
He added that cases have been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in connection with the seizures.
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Family of injured driver in murder of Suvendu's aide seeks exemplary punishment
Kolkata (PTI): The family of Buddhabeb Bera, the driver injured in the shooting that killed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath, demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible and urged the new government to ensure such incidents do not happen in West Bengal.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram near Kolkata on Wednesday night, triggering a political storm in the state. Bera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, sustained gunshot wounds and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Family members said they learned about the incident through television and immediately left for Kolkata.
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"We came to know from TV reports that my nephew had been shot. We still do not know who carried out the attack or why it happened," Buddhabeb's uncle Biswajit Bera said.
"Our only wish now is that he recovers and returns home safely," he added.
Buddhabeb, 25, hails from Majnaberia village in the Chandipur police station area in Purba Medinipur district.
According to family members, he mostly stays in Kolkata for work and visits home occasionally during weekends.
Besides his parents, his younger brother, sister-in-law and several relatives have also travelled to Kolkata following the incident.
Demanding strict action against the perpetrators, the uncle said, "We want the government to conduct a proper investigation and identify those directly involved in the crime. They should be given exemplary punishment so that such incidents do not happen again in West Bengal and no other family has to go through this grief."
A neighbour, Ranjana Ghorai, also sought stringent punishment for those behind the attack.
"In our neighbourhood, we call him Sona. We want exemplary punishment for the people responsible for this incident," she said.
Rath's family members have demanded life imprisonment for the accused, while Adhikari has called for capital punishment for those involved in the killing.
