Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In a major action against drug-trafficking in the city, personnel from the cyber crime department arrested three people for allegedly smuggling prohibited psychotropic pills with intent to sell the product among addicts. Along with 1,700 pills and other restricted drugs, a firearm and sharp-edged weapons were also seized from the three suspects, who later told police they had procured the products from Surat in Gujarat.
All three were on a private bus headed to the city when cops intercepted the vehicle on Tuesday and apprehended them. The suspects have been identified as Sheikh Akbar Sheikh Salim (23), Sayyed Salman Sayyed Saud (27) and Majid Beg Yunus Beg (24), all residents of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Authorities said the cybercrime teams were acting on a tip-off gained from a “reliable source” who said the three suspects were moving banned substances from Surat on a bus, with intent to sell the product in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Multiple teams of police were then formed to intercept the vehicle at Nagar naka.
Among the restricted drugs seized from the two suspects were Nitrazepam tablets, Codeine Phosphate and Triprolidine cough syrup. Besides these drugs, sharp weapons, including knives, were recovered from the suspects, after a five-hour search of the bus.
Sources from the police said they suspect the supply chain for the drugs leads back to Gujarat.
“An investigation is now underway to completely dismantle the illegal drug network,” said cybercrime inspector Shivcharan Pandhare, who led the teams that intercepted the bus.
The suspects have been arrested under relevant sections of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act.
