Mephedrone worth Rs 2,000 crore seized in Pune, New Delhi; five persons held
Pune (PTI): Police have seized 1100kg of synthetic stimulant drug mephedrone, estimated to be worth more than Rs 2,000 crore, following raids in Pune district and New Delhi and arrested three persons in this connection and detained two others, said officials on Tuesday.
The three persons arrested in connection with the biggest-ever drug seizure by the Pune police were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act), they said, adding the two other men are being questioned.
Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said 700kg of mephedrone (also known as MD) was seized from different locations in Pune district, including the Kurkumbh MIDC area on the city's outskirts, after the arrest of the trio on Sunday and their subsequent interrogation.
Based on inputs provided by the accused, the Pune police on Tuesday evening seized another 400kg of mephedrone from two godown-like structures in South Delhi, he said.
Kumar said with this, the total seizure of the drug stood at a whopping 1100kg.
A police officer from the Pune crime branch said though the process of seizure was still going on, the value of the contraband was estimated to be more than Rs 2,000 crore.
He said preliminary investigations have revealed mephedrone was transported from the Kurkumbh MIDC-based units and stored at the godowns in New Delhi.
"We have already arrested three people who worked as couriers. Two more people have been apprehended and their interrogation was on," said the crime branch officer.
The officer said this was the biggest-ever drug recovery in Maharashtra by the Pune police and one of the largest seizures in the country.
"Investigations are going on a war footing. Upward and downward linkages are being probed and our teams are working in close coordination with other agencies," Police Commissioner Kumar said earlier in the day.
Asked about antecedents of the arrested accused, the IPS officer said they were primarily acting as "courier boys" and had some offences registered against them.
Asked if drug racketeer Lalit Patil was anyway related to the narcotics haul, he said as of now no link has come to light.
Last year, Patil emerged as the kingpin of a drug racket that was busted by the police in Mumbai in a two-month-long operation, which included seizure of mephedrone worth about Rs 300 crore and a raid at a drug manufacturing unit in Nashik. Patil had escaped from a government hospital in Pune, but was later arrested.
Mephedrone, also known as 'meow meow', is a synthetic stimulant and psychotropic substance banned under the NDPS Act.
STORY | Mephedrone worth Rs 1,100 crore seized in Pune; three persons arrested
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
