The Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) is again under the scanner for giving a free hand and kids glove treatment to erring private manpower supply agencies.
Less than a fortnight after a private security guard was arrested for sexually assaulting a 20-year-old married woman who was placed under quarantine, a contractual worker attached to the same facility in Bhayandar (east) turned out to be a drug peddler after he was caught by the Mumbai unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The matter came to light after the accused who has been identified as Avinash Singh (24) was found to be in possession of 2.040 kilograms of charas which he had concealed in his backpack.
A resident of Nallasopara in Palghar district, Avinash Singh was attached to a private housekeeping agency which had been hired by the civic administration to maintain cleanliness and hygiene at its institutional quarantine center located in the New Golden Nest area of Bhayandar (east).
Notably, Singh was apprehended with the contraband near the Sports Complex which is a stones throw away from the quarantine facility.
“Yes, Avinash Singh was working for the private housekeeping agency which we had hired for the upkeep of the quarantine facility,” confirmed a senior officer from MBMC’s sanitation department.
It may be recalled that six contractual workers were caught red handed while indulging in a binge session inside an ambulance used to ferry Covid-19 patients. However, apart from cosmetic show cause notices, concrete action still eludes the politically-backed contractors.
Is Mira Road a hotbed of drug trade?
Three days after Avinash Singh landed into the ACB net, the Navghar police arrested the supplier-Baliram Bageshwar Yadav alias Bali from Bhayandar. The LCB unit had recently nabbed two drug-peddlers from the Naya Nagar area of Mira Road.
The Mira-Bhayandar belt is said to be a safe hunting ground for a cartel of drug-lords who are wrecking the lives of scores of people especially members from the younger generation by turning them into addicts of ganja (cannabis), cocaine, heroin, and Mephedrone which is also known as MD and Meow Meow. However, due to the police action, many drug traffickers have allegedly gone underground, sources said.
