Pune Crime Files: How a 5-gram bust blew the lid off a plan to build a mephedrone empire

In their search, the police recovered 5.5 grams of mephedrone worth Rs 1.1 lakh in the illegal market. Mephedrone is valued at Rs 2 crores per kilogram in the international illegal market.

A coordinated probe was launched, monitored by Deputy Commissioner Somay Munde and led by Senior Inspector Nandkumar Gaikwad and Assistant Inspector Vijay Chandan. The investigation into the supply chain of the seized drugs led the police to three more suspects: Sumit Ghule , 41,, a notorious drugs kingpin arrested for smuggling rackets in the past and his aides Rushikesh Yanbhar, 29, and Pratik Hole, 32

“While we were probing the transactions, movements and communication of these suspects, we received concrete inputs that Ghule and some other suspects were trying to procure a specific chemical from a place outside Maharashtra. This chemical is a key component in the synthesis of mephedrone. Leads from this aspect of the probe and more arrests we made, gave us the details on a plan these racketeers were planning something big,” said an officer who was part of the probe.

The return of the chemist

In the subsequent probe, the police arrested three key suspects: Ramniwas Bishnoi, 25, from whom 62.62 grams of mephedrone was seized, Ashok Dhawale, 26, from whom 159 grams of mephedrone was seized and Vipinkumar Shriramsagar Pandit, 54, an MSc in Chemistry who was arrested in the past for his involvement in a major mephedrone production and smuggling racket busted by the Customs Department in 2016 in Pune’s Kurkumbh area. He was released on bail in January 2025.

“Our investigation revealed that Ghule, Dhwale and Pandit were planning to set up a manufacturing unit for mephedrone synthesis. For this, they were searching for a place in a comparatively secluded area in rural Pune. They had even visited some places for this purpose. We have also learned that they planned to temporarily set up a mephedrone synthesis lab in a flat to begin their business. Thus, an input about the procurement of a chemical led us to bust a plan to set up a mephedrone factory in Pune,” said an officer.

In August 2016, the Customs Department arrested several drug racketeers, including a British national of Indian origin, and seized 159 kilograms of mephedrone, valued at Rs 25 crore then, in a raid at a chemical factory in Kurkumbh industrial area. The plant was licensed for the production of industrial reagents.

Mephedrone, also known as Meow Meow or White Magic, is a synthetically manufactured stimulant of the amphetamine and cathinone category. Till early 2010s, the drug was not included in the list of contrabands under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. But after multiple seizures of large quantities of the drug and rising instances of its consumption as a narcotic in large cities, authorities included it in the list in 2015.