PUNE: The crime branch of the Pune police recently busted a drugs racket in Lohiyanagar with the arrest of three drugs peddlers.
Police recovered 75gm of brown sugar and 1.30kg hashish collectively worth Rs 2.74 lakh from the trio. They have also booked six more suspects, including four women, involved in the racket.
The anti-narcotics cell of the crime branch, led by inspector Sunil Dorge, has arrested
Gopinath Misal (22) of Lohiynagar,
Azhar Shaikh (23) of Bhavani Peth and Hussain Papa Shaikh (28) of Santacruz, Mumbai. A probe revealed that Misal's two cousins were running the racket in Lohiyanagar with help from Shaikh's mother and sister based in Mumbai.
Dorge said while collecting information about drug peddlers, they recently got a tip-off about Misal and Shaikh. "We recovered 800 pouches of 67gm of brown sugar, cash of Rs 1,000 and a cellphone from the duo," Dorge said.
A probe revealed that Shaikh came to Lohiyanagar with the consignment of brown sugar and Misal was collecting it.
Investigations showed that Misal's cousins and Shaikh's mother and sister were running a drug racket in Lohiyanagar. They would bring brown sugar from Mumbai to Pune. "A brother and sister duo from Bhavani Peth and one suspect from Ramtekdi in Hadapsar were their accomplices," Dorge said. Azhar Shaikh was arrested from Bhavani Peth.
An offence against six people under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act has been registered with Khadak police.
