TWO COLLEGE students in their early 20s were arrested from an upmarket area in Balewadi by the Anti Narcotics Cell of Pune City Police, who seized LSD, Ecstasy pills and an imported strain of marijuana from them. The action comes days after the narcotic cell arrested five educated youths in their 20s who were allegedly transporting drugs amongst themselves using an online instant delivery app, before peddling them to customers. Police had seized over 2,300 blotting paper stamps of the psychedelic drug Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD, worth over Rs 1.14 crores, from their possession. In the latest action on Sunday, narcotics cell sleuths received a tip off that some peddlers were coming to an place near an upmarket residential society in Balewadi. A trap was laid and two youngsters were detained on a public road. Upon searching them, police recovered LSD stamps worth Rs 65,000, Ecstasy pills worth over Rs 71,000 and an imported strain of marijauna worth Rs 9,700. Police subsequently arrested the two suspects Tanuj Kambrat (22) and Jeevan Totam (20). "Both the arrested suspects are students who are pursuing a commerce degree course from a Pune college. We have launched a probe into their supply and distribution network," said an officer from Pune City Police, who have booked the duo under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as Ecstasy in pill form or Molly in crystal form is a potent stimulant drug. LSD is a very potent psychedelic mind altering drug. Officials said, the strain of marijuana seized from the suspects is generally smuggled into India from Central Asia and sold at an exponentially higher price than strains sourced locally. Earlier, another team from the narcotics cell was working on an input that some suspects were passing on sheets of LSD stamps among themselves through a well known instant delivery app. On May 23, making the first breakthrough in the case, Rohan Gawai (24), a final year MBA student at a city college was arrested and few LSD stamps were recovered from him. His interrogation further revealed that he was in fact part of an LSD trafficking and peddling ring in Pune that was targeting mainly youngsters including college students and professionals. On May 24 and 25, police arrested four suspects, namely Sushant Gaikwad (26), an engineer, Dheeraj Lalwani (24) a law graduate, Deepak Gehlot (25), an interior designer and Onkar Patil (25), a management studies graduate.
