Image of chemicals for representational purposes.
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Bengaluru: Three drug manufacturing and storage units were busted in different parts of Bengaluru, with the raids yielding 17 litres of chemicals, the city police said on Sunday.
The operation was conducted jointly by the Maharashtra Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) and the Bengaluru City police but both contradicted each other over the value of drugs seized on Saturday at Spandana Layout Colony in Bagaluru, N G Gollahalli in Kothanur and Yarappanahalli in Avalahalli.
After the raids, the Maharashtra ANTF said they seized mephedrone worth Rs 55.88 crore, along with machinery and chemicals, from two manufacturing units and one storage facility, some of which were operating as event management or warehouse businesses.
However, City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said the value of 4 kg of seized drugs was Rs 1.2 crore and not Rs 55.88 crore as claimed by the ANTF.
The raids yielded 17 litres of chemicals and their composition and value were yet to be ascertained, he added.
The top police officer further said the seizure was the outcome of a joint operation by the Maharashtra ANTF and the Bengaluru City police. Senior officers from the Central Crime Branch (CCB) were part of the operation, and local police were present at the spots during the raids.
The police are trying to trace the owners of the buildings where the units operated.
According to ANTF officials, the chain of events leading to the raids began on December 21 when the Konkan unit of the ANTF conducted a raid in Navi Mumbai and arrested one Abdul Qadir Rashid Shaikh along with 1.488 kilograms of mephedrone worth Rs 1.48 crore. Further investigations led to the key accused, identified as Prashant Yallappa Patil, a resident of Belgaum, and to manufacturing of mephedrone at three units in Bengaluru.
An ANTF official said they arrested two suspects — Suraj Ramesh Yadav and Malkhan Ramlal Bishnoi — during the raids in Bengaluru. “Yadav and Bishnoi, both from Rajasthan, have confessed to preparing synthetic drugs at these units. Efforts are on to nab two more persons,” the official said.
Bengaluru police officials said they would examine whether the accused had registered the units using forged documents or benami arrangements.
A senior officer told DH that a joint probe would now be initiated to trace local facilitators and identify any lapses.
Meanwhile, reacting to allegations that the Bengaluru police were caught unaware of the Maharashtra ANTF operation, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said the raids were a collective effort and should not be seen as a failure of the state police. The racket came to light only after sustained interrogation of the accused arrested outside Karnataka, eventually leading the ANTF to Bengaluru, he said.
“We conducted the raids in coordination with the Maharashtra police,” he said.
At the same time, he warned that any negligence by the jurisdictional police would not be tolerated.