Police probing more Bollywood and TV actors in connection with 2000-crore drug bust
Thane police during a press conference
Mumbai police are currently investigating obscure Bollywood and TV personalities in connection with the 2000-crore drug racket which was uncovered recently.
A senior Thane police official told PTI that a Bollywood personality, known for his comic roles in 80’s and 90’s and still acts in a few films each year, a TV actress and other small-time actors are suspected to be part of the drug racket. Actress Mamta Kulkarni and her alleged international drug lord partner Vicky Goswami are prime accused in the racket.
The suspects allegedly attended meetings in Mumbai hotels, where Goswami reportedly discussed intricate details of the operation like the means of supplying drugs.
Earlier, Thane Police had told the media that one of the arrested persons in the case had given investigators details of the modus operandi and about the crucial meetings held in Kenya and Dubai regarding the ephedrine sale.
In all, there were 17 accused in the case, of whom seven are still at large. The remaining 10, identified as – Sagar Suresh Powle, Mayur Suresh Sukhdhare, Rajendra Jagdambaprasad Dimri, Dhaneshwar Rajaram Swami, Puneet Ramesh Shringi, Manoj Tejraj Jain, Hardipsingh Indersingh Gill, Narendra Dhirajlal Kacha, Babasaheb Shankar Dhotre and Jai Mulji Mukhi – are currently in jail.
The arrests were made when police seized around 18.5 tonnes of ephedrine, worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore from the premises of Avon Lifesciences Ltd in Maharashtra’s Solapur district in April.
According to police, ephedrine, which is a controlled drug, was allegedly being diverted from the Solapur unit of Avon Lifesciences and sent abroad after processing. The ephedrine power is used for sniffing and is also used to produce party drug methamphetamine.
Those on the run include Kishore Rathod, said to be the son of a former politician, and an accused identified only as Dr Abdullah, who is based abroad, as well as two of his associates.
The entire drug racket first came to light when Thane Police arrested a Nigerian national in a drug case on April 12. His interrogation led police to Solapur, where they conducted raids in the premises of Avon Lifesciences on April 14.
