Pune grocery businessman by day, drug lord by night: How a ‘sarpanch’ hopeful’s Rs 4 crore Mephedrone empire crumbled

“Investigation is on to find out where and how the seized Mephedrone was manufactured,” said Nikhil Pingale, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), during a press conference.

A police officer said Ramkaran owns four grocery shops in Wadgaonsheri, Wagholi, Kondhwa, and Chandan Nagar in Pune. “He is also active in local politics and aspires to be the sarpanch of his village in Rajasthan,” the officer said.

How the accused were arrested

A team, led by senior police inspector Pandit Rejitwad of the Anti-Narcotics Cell of Pune City police’s Crime Branch, nabbed Rajpurohit and Ramdevasi from a car near the EON IT Park in Kharadi at around 4.35 pm on February 3.

The police said they recovered 27 grams of Mephedrone worth Rs 12.41 lakh, along with an electronic weighing machine, spoons, and plastic pouches from the accused, who live in the Wagholi area of Pune city.

They said their probe showed that the two men procured the Mephedrone from Yogesh Bishnoi, also from Jodhpur.

A police team led by Senior Inspector Sanjay Chavan, Assistant Inspector Ravindra Godse, and Sub-Inspector Rahul Kolpe nabbed Yogesh when he came to Wagholi from Rajasthan to sell Mephedrone on February 7. The team seized 151 grams of Mephedrone worth Rs 30 lakh and a cell phone from him.

Following leads obtained during his interrogation, the police arrested his relative, Sachin Bishnoi from Mundhwa, and seized Rs 4.65 lakh in cash and a cell phone.

As the investigation progressed, the police arrested an alleged Pune-based drug peddler, Amit Ghule, a resident of Vrindavan Colony in Manjari Budruk, and recovered 398 grams of Mephedrone worth Rs 79.6 lakh along with a Fortuner car.

How the drug trail took police to Rajasthan

The police said that since the contraband seized in this case was supplied from Rajasthan, a team of five officers and 20 constables was sent to the state, along with the two arrested accused.

The team searched the homes of the two accused and then arrested the alleged main Mephedrone distributor, Ratanlal Jat, from the Balotra district on February 11. The police said they seized 1,384 grams of Mephedrone worth nearly Rs 2,76,80,000 from him.

The next day, the police arrested businessman Ramkaran Jat from Jodhpur, who was wanted in two previous cases of Mephedrone seizures in Pune city.

The police said attempts are being made to find out how Ghule, who is learnt to be a businessman, joined the Mephedrone racket.