In another deadly blow to a major drug trafficking racket, which was busted on October 19, the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar police have now arrested the syndicate's mastermind and seized 18kg of mephedrone (MD) worth ₹37 crore. Sameer Chandrashekhar Pinjaar, 45, was caught on Sunday while the cops also discovered the farmhouse located in Palghar district, which doubled up as a makeshift drug manufacturing unit. A school dropout, Pinjaar earlier worked at a chemical factory in Hyderabad where he apparently learnt the technique of making MD. Not ruling out more arrests in the case, the police suspect that some of the ingredients and chemicals were procured from online marketplaces.
Arrests and seizures
Besides the multi-crore contraband, the cops also impounded cars, bike, country made pistols, magazines, live rounds, chemicals and lab equipment. So far, seven people have been arrested. In its October 21 edition, the Free Press Journal had reported how the police caught four people from a Bhayandar lodge. The duo led the cops to Tanvir Nisar Ahmed Choudhary and Gautam Gunadhar Ghosh, who are alleged to be drug suppliers. “Our team continued to trail the source and kept going higher in the hierarchy of drug peddling, which led them to the MD manufacturing unit lab operated by Pinjaar who owns the farmhouse and is said to be the mastermind behind the racket,” said Deputy Commissioner Of Police (Crime) Avinash Ambhure. Notably, the farmhouse was located in the Gawalpada area of the predominantly tribal region of Mokhada taluka.
Profiles of the accused
The October 19 raid, which was conducted at the Bhayandar lodge, had resulted in the arrests of Sani Solkar, 28, Vishal Godse, 28, Deepak Dubey, 26, and Shahbaz Shevai, 29. The team had also recovered 251 gm of MD worth more than ₹25 lakh, a country-made pistol, two live rounds and ₹70,000 cash. The quartet are hardcore criminals with 34 serious offences registered against them at various police stations across Mumbai.
A case under the Arms Act,1959, and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1986, has been registered against all the seven accused. They have been remanded to police custody till October 27.
