Inter-state drug racket: 6 more held, fourth narcotics lab unearthed in Rajasthan's Sirohi

Jodhpur: The NCB and ATS have arrested six more persons in Rajasthan in connection with an inter-state drug racket and unearthed a fourth manufacturing lab in Sirohi district with the seizure of narcotics worth Rs 45 crore, officials said on Monday.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), after about three months of "intensive" technical and ground surveillance, had on April 27 busted three "clandestine" drug manufacturing labs in Rajasthan and Gujarat leading to the seizure of 300 kg of narcotics and arrest of seven persons, according to NCB Deputy Director General (Operations) Gyaneshwar Singh.

A total of 149 kgs of mephedrone or 'meow meow' drug (both in powder and liquid form), 50 kg ephedrine, and 200 litres of acetone were recovered from the three labs located in Bhinmal of Jalore district and Osian in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the officer said.

On Sunday, six drug dealers, including the mastermind of the Rajasthan network, who were part of the same network were arrested. These persons were involved in the purchase of raw materials from suppliers in Gujarat for making mephedrone drug, the officials said.

During interrogation, it was revealed that the accused used to manufacture drugs in their laboratories and dispose of this entire material in just a month. For this, they used nail polish or paint remover, which has deleterious effects on the human body, as the base material, they said.

Joint Director (NCB) Ghanshyam Soni, in a statement on Monday, said drugs worth Rs 45 crore have been seized from the lab in Sirohi.

Soni said the drugs seized from Jodhpur's Osian are being investigated by teams of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and added, "Only after the completion of this investigation, the worth of the drug could be ascertained".

Those arrested on Sunday have been identified as mastermind Kuldeep Singh Rajpurohit and his accomplices Rajaram Meghwal, Bajrang Lal Bishnoi, Deepak Solanki, Shiv Ratan Agarwal and Rampratap, the officer added.

Jodhpur (Rural) Superintendent Dharmendra Singh Yadav said the team is also trying to nab Jagdish Bishnoi, who is an aide of Rampratap.

Rampratap ran a medical store in Osian and the drug manufacturing lab was set up in the same premises behind the shop.

Yadav said the police picked up Rampratap from his house early morning following an input that he had been operating a laboratory for manufacturing narcotic drugs in Osian.

"Rampratap disclosed that they had set up the drug manufacturing lab in Osian nearly three months ago and had brought chemicals from Gujarat to manufacture mephedrone, but they were apprehended before they could start preparing the drug," said Yadav.

During interrogation, it came to light that the drug supply had already begun from the lab in Jalore district's Sanchor, falling near the Rajasthan-Gujarat border, while manufacturing in Osian was yet to begin.

According to the accused, both these labs were set up three to four months ago. They used to procure raw materials from Gujarat on Rajpurohit's instructions and prepare the drug to be sold in local areas.

The local police along with the NCB and ATS have now swung into action to get to the roots of this racket. The mastermind of the drug gang operating in Rajasthan, Kuldeep Singh, would operate the labs in Sanchore and Osian in Rajasthan, and Amreli and Pipalaj in Gujarat.

Rajpurohit had a vast knowledge of drugs and used it to guide others in their preparation at the different labs.