Six persons were arrested in three raids related to a crackdown on the drug network, police said on Thursday, adding that seizures worth over Rs 8 crore included banned Mephedrone as well as the raw material to produce the drug. As per sources in the Surat Crime Branch, police personnel got information from inmates of Surat Central Jail about a discussion between the accused, Sunil Sharma, and two other inmates - Ghanshyam Mulani and Viramani alias Anna Panduranga – regarding the manufacture of the banned drug. Ghanshyam Mulani and Viramani alias Anna Panduranga, the two inmates, had jumped parole and failed to turn up at the central jail a couple of months ago, as per sources. Police worked on the inputs and, later during raids in the jail, seized a mobile phone from Sunil Sharma. He was arrested in a drugs case in 2019 by the DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Surat), officials said. On checking the phone, police found he was regularly talking with his father Gajanand Sharma, a resident of the Pali district in Rajasthan. With technical surveillance, police got more details about the case. Mulani (30) was caught from Umragam in Surat and questioned. On Tuesday, the Surat Crime Branch team reached Rajasthan and carried out raids at Gajanand Sharma’s house and cattle shed in Pati village of Pali district. The raids led to the discovery of "packets of white powder packed in plastic bags", according to officials. FSL officials, who were present during the raids, checked the chemical substance and recovered raw material used for making MD weighing over 10 kg. Gajanand Sharma has been arrested in the matter. Surat Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Tomar said, “Both Gajanand Sharma and Ghanshyam Mulani were arrested on Thursday and questioned to get the names of the supplier of raw materials. We have come to know that the seized raw material was brought from some place in Haryana and stored in the cattle shed in the Pali district. The accused were planning to make MD from these raw materials at some place in Gujarat and later supply it to different parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Our Crime Branch teams are also working to find the third accused, Anna Panduranga. Mulani was arrested by Surat police in 2019 in a murder case of his own brother-in-law at Katargam, and since then he has been in jail. He recently came out on parole which he jumped and failed to return to jail. Anna Panduranga was arrested by Surat Crime Branch in an MD seizure case in 2020." In the second incident, raids were carried out in a colony in the Bhestan area where 341.650 gm of MD worth Rs. 34.16 lakh was seized on Wednesday. Police recovered a country-made pistol and drugs weighing machine. Officials arrested Mohammed Saeed Ansari (55) and Zakir Patel (41), both residents of EWS (economically weaker section) colony in Bhestan. “Zakir Patel is the younger brother of Zahir Patel, who was arrested by Surat police in 2008 for his alleged involvement in planting of 29 bombs in Surat city along with. Zahir Patel was acquitted in the case. Out of 29 bombs, not a single bomb exploded in the city," Tomar further added. Raids were also carried out in a flat at Peace Point apartment of Rander town in Surat. The searches led to the recovery of 50.460 gm of MD worth Rs. 5.04 lakhs, officials said. Two persons have been arrested in the case who have been identified as Saiyed Tausif (36), and Mohammed Shahid Khatri (32), an auto mechanic by profession and resident of the same apartment. Police also seized electric weighing machine and other items from them. Police are trying to find out the details of the source of the acquisition of drugs and other details.
