Pimpri Chinchwad Police Busts MD Drugs Manufacturing Factory In Ranjangaon; 112 Kg Drugs Already Sold
Mubarak Ansari & Sumit Singh
Pimpri Chinchwad, October 21, 2020: The sleuths from the Crime Branch of Pimpri Chinchwad Police have busted a major gang by arresting 14 persons including a Nigerian national for allegedly operating a drugs racket in Pune and Mumbai. The accused used to produce drugs at a factory in Ranjangaon MIDC and sell them in various markets. Till now cops have seized Mephedrone (MD) drugs worth Rs 20 crores and other material worth Rs 90 lakh and also attached properties worth Rs 75 Lakh.
Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Krishna Prakash, while addressing a press conference today, said that the accused persons were also in the process of setting up another factory in Palghar district. They had purchased two-acre land from the money which they had obtained by selling 112 Kg MD drugs. “Our team earlier arrested five accused persons with 20 kg MD drugs worth Rs 20 crores on October 7. We had formed six teams to further investigate the case. During the investigation, we found that the accused had conspired to manufacture MD drugs at a closed factory of Sanyog Biotech Pvt Ltd in Ranjangaon MIDC. They had produced 132 Kg MD drugs in December 2019 out of which they have sold 112 Kg drugs and 20 Kg has been seized by our team. The mastermind behind this drugs racket is Tushar Suryakant Kale of Borivali, who is also linked to Chhota Rajan gang, and Rakesh Shrikant Khanivdekar alias Rocky of Vasai”, the city’s top cop informed.
He further added, ” We have also arrested a Nigerian national, Jubu Ukodo, who was instrumental in selling the 112 Kg drugs. He lived in Vasai and had also served 10 years imprisonment in Kolhapur jail in a drugs case. He has also tampered with a visa document and a separate case will be filed against him.”
How was the racket busted?
Acting on a tip-off received by the Senior Police Inspector Shriram Pol on October 7, a team had nabbed Anandgir Madhugir Gosavi (25), Chetan Fakkad Dandavate (28), Sanjiv Kumar Bansi Raut (44), Akshay Shivaji Kale (25), and Tausif Hasan Mohammad Taslim (31), on Chakan-Shikrapur road. 20 Kg of MD drugs were seized from their possession. Akshay Kale had kept the drugs at his house and it was seized while he was going to sell them.
During further investigation, cops arrested Kiran Rajguru, Ashok Sankpal and Kiran Kale. “We learnt that the drugs were manufactured at Sanyog Biotech Pvt Ltd in Rajangaon MIDC. Accordingly, the factory was sealed. After Tushar Kale and Khanvidekar were identified as the gang leaders, we formed separate teams which searched for them at various places in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Vasai, Nashik and Palghar. Meanwhile, our team arrested the Nigerian national in the case who had sold the drugs after buying them from the main accused persons”, said DCP (crime) Sudhir Hiremath.
According to police, Tushar Kale and Rocky had planned about setting up a drug factory while being lodged in jail. They had hired Ashok Sankpal’s Sanyog Biotech company, which was closed. Kiran Kale who works as a director with another company in the same area had mediated with Sankpal and the other accused. A meeting was held in his office where it was decided to produce MD drugs at the rate of Rs 60,000 per kg. Tushar Kale had paid Rs 67 Lakh as advance money for the drugs. Now all their bank accounts have been frozen. Police have also attached two-acre land in Palsai (Palghar district) worth Rs 75 lakh which they had bought with money acquired from the drugs sale.
Police officials said that there are eight cases against Tushar Kale which includes murder, extortion, robbery etc. He had conspired with the Nigerian national to sell the 112 Kg MD drugs. “Tushar Kale and Khanvidekar also planned to start factories in three other places. The investigation is going on to nab their accomplices. Khanvidekar was earlier arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in a drugs case. He was also wanted by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) but our team managed to nab him first”, said Police Commissioner Krishna Prakash.
Investigation Team
Investigation team included Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajaram Patil, Anti-Narcotics Cell Police Inspector Shriram Pol, Crime Branch Unit 5 Senior Police Inspector Balkrishna Sawant, Assistant Police Inspector Ram Gomare, Ambreesh Deshmukh, Prashant Mahale, Police Sub Inspector Chamle, Kaluram Landage and police personnel Shakir Jinedi, Rajan Mahadik, Rajendra Bamble, Pradip Shelar, Shakur Tamboli, Mayur Wadkar, Swaminath Jadhav, Dhanraj Kirnale, Dattatraya Bansude, Dinkar Bhujbal, Farooq Mulla, Ganesh Malusare, Santosh Dighe, Sandeep Patil, Sandeep Thackeray, Prasad Kalate, Shyamsunder Gutte, Shailesh Magar, Nitin Bahirat, Prasad Jangilwad, Sawan Rathod, Dnyaneshwar Gadekar, Rajkumar Ighare, Ashok Gargote, Ajit Kute, Pravin Kamble, Dayanand Khedkar, Gopal Bramhande, Dhananjay Bhosale, Bharat Mane, Pradip Gutte, Pandurang Funde and Anita Yadav.
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