Civil engineer, BBA grad among three held for marijuana smuggling, peddling marijuana

A team from the ANC was working on an intel received from informants that some individuals were coming to the Katraj area with a large quantity of marijuana to be further sold to some peddlers in the city.

A CIVIL Engineering Diploma holder and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree holder were among three arrested by the Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Pune City police for smuggling and peddling marijuana in Pune. Police have seized from them over 27 kilograms of marijuana smuggled from a neighbouring state in Maharashtra.

A team from the ANC was working on an intel received from informants that some individuals were coming to the Katraj area with a large quantity of marijuana to be further sold to some peddlers in the city. Based on the information received, a trap was laid on Tuesday and two persons identified as Hariom Singh (21) and Karan Bagul (23), both residents of Dhule district, were detained for questioning and search.

In the search of the duo conducted as per the procedures laid down by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the police team recovered over 23 kilograms of marijuana. “Investigation has revealed that Singh runs an electric repairing shop while Bagul is a Civil Engineering diploma holder. The two had smuggled the marijauana from a neighbouring state of Maharashtra to Pune and had planned to sell it to a peddler.” said Senior Inspector Rajendra Landage from the ANC.

In the subsequent investigation, the alleged peddler was identified as Vasant Kshirsagar (30), a resident of Ambegaon Budruk in Pune. Kshirsagar, a BBA degree holder was also placed under arrest and over four kilograms of marijuana recovered in a house search. A probe has been launched into the supply and distribution network of the arrested suspect. Officials said that the illicit market value of the marijuana seized from the three suspects is close to Rs 5.5 lakh.

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