Clarify on drug factory ops, Bengaluru top cop tells Maharashtra agency

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru city police commissioner has sought a comprehensive clarification from the Maharashtra Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) on the methodology used to assess the value of narcotics seized during the recent drug factory bust in the city, raising questions over the nearly Rs 56-crore valuation publicly claimed by the Maharashtra agency.

According to senior police officials, the Bengaluru police have formally asked the ANTF chief to furnish a detailed valuation breakup, including the stage of processing at which the narcotic substance was seized, its purity percentage, the market rates applied and whether the calculation was based on wholesale value or street-level pricing.

City police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said narcotics valuation must adhere to uniform, nationally accepted standards, particularly in inter-state operations.

“The valuation must follow standard parameters. We have asked the ANTF chief to share calculations along with the technical basis for arriving at the final figure,” he said.

Police sources said the seized material was in different stages of processing, and preliminary assessments suggested that the valuation could vary significantly depending on whether it was computed as raw material, semi-processed substance or finished narcotics ready for retail distribution.

The commissioner also expressed serious reservations over the Maharashtra police projecting the Bengaluru operation as a standalone raid, despite extensive logistical and operational support provided by the Bengaluru city police.

Senior officers of the Central Crime Branch (CCB), personnel from multiple local police stations and technical teams had assisted the Maharashtra ANTF at various stages, including intelligence development, reconnaissance, surveillance of suspects, coordination of logistics, and execution of the raids, he said.

“This was not an isolated operation carried out by one agency. It involved close coordination and support from Bengaluru city police at multiple levels,” the commissioner stated.

Highly placed sources said the lack of clarity in valuation and attribution has led to internal correspondence between the two police forces, as Bengaluru police have sought to ensure transparency, procedural accuracy and proper documentation in a case that is likely to have inter-state and national ramifications.

The drug factory bust had earlier been projected by the Maharashtra ANTF as one of its biggest successes, with officials claiming seizure of narcotics and materials worth Rs 56 crore. However, Bengaluru police officials said that valuation without detailed technical backing could lead to discrepancies during prosecution, especially when the case comes up for trial.

Investigations into the supply chain, funding network, and interstate links of the drug manufacturing racket are continuing, with multiple agencies expected to share inputs in the coming days.

Another senior police officer told DH that according to the protocol, if any agency conducts raids in a state, they should register some basic details at local police stations. “But they did not share any details and just left the city. The city police knew about four of the accused involved in drug peddling network and teams were working on it to trace them.”

The Bengaluru city police also stated that their team, after examining the chemicals seized by the Maharashtra police, opined that they were not sufficient to manufacture any kind of narcotic or psychotropic drugs.