Sundip Dhunay, a British national of Indian-origin, is at the heart of Pune police probe into 1,800-kg drug haul

The probe unveiled a sophisticated production line for the synthetic stimulant, being run from a chemical factory guised as a pharmaceutical unit at an industrial cluster in Kurkumbh in Daund.

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said Wednesday, “We are seeking appointment of a special counsel in the case and we have started our planning to conduct prosecution in a fast track manner.”

Kumar further said, “Probe has already crystalised the aspect that consignments were being sent to London through a courier agency in Delhi. We are now collecting evidence on this and also trying to establish since when this was going on. One wanted accused, who is the mastermind of a vertical in the cartel, is a native of Bihar and is a British national. Our information suggests this person had gone to another country and from there he is known to have fled to another country since we launched the crackdown in this case. The process has been initiated for his arrest.”

Officials probing the current case said their Delhi operation has concluded and the seized drugs have been dispatched to Pune. The search and seizure in Sangli has also concluded. Central agencies including the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have joined the probe and will be part of the interrogation of suspects.

“Some suspects are on the run and we have positioned our teams at 7-8 locations in the country for their arrest. Probe has brought to light both wholesale and retail supply chains of cartel. Till now, we had been focussing more on wholesale chains. Over 15 teams were formed to look into and destroy retail chains,” Kumar said.