Ahmedabad: In a well-planned operation, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Tuesday confiscated 1,410 litres of illegal liquid tramadol — a precursor in the production of tramadol tablets — from a pharmaceutical establishment in Dahej. The street value of the seized stock has been estimated at Rs 31.02 crore.
Two prime suspects, Pankaj Rajput and Nikhil Kapuriya, have been arrested, leading to the unravelling of a complex multi-layered operation from manufacturing to distribution. The hunt for others in the network is on.
Tramadol, an opioid pain medication, was notified as a psychotropic substance under the NDPS Act in 2018 and its export is restricted.
The operation came after an ATS officer received intelligence indicating that Rajput, the chief chemist and operator of a pharmaceutical company, was clandestinely synthesizing tramadol at a pharmaceutical unit located on a plot within the Jolva GIDC in Dahej, Bharuch district.
Acting upon this information, ATS launched a covert investigation employing advanced technical surveillance and subsequently, the squad executed the raid in collaboration with the Special Operations Group.
Preliminary investigation and Rajput’s interrogation revealed that the confiscated liquid tramadol had been stocked by Rajput and Kapuriya to make tablets.
Kapuriya owns Maruti Biogenic, a bulk drug and chemical manufacturing and trading firm in Ankleshwar. Raw materials and chemical compounds needed in the production of tramadol active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) came from Harshad Kukadiya, who owns Shreeji Scientific in Sarkhej, Ahmedabad. After processing, Rajput and Kapuriya would transport the synthesized tramadol API back to Kukadiya through a man named Keval Gondaliya.
Next, Anand Patel and Ankit Patel, proprietors of Dnakor Pharma Pvt Ltd in Dhanot, Chhatral, manufactured and packaged the tablets under directives of the prime suspects Rajput and Kapuriya, besides Gondaliya and his aide Harshit Patel. Gondaliya and Patel also facilitated the tablets’ distribution.
