Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) claimed to have busted the entire network of drug peddlers in the probe related to the Sushant Singh Rajput death case, following the arrest of two top dealers in an operation spanning Tuesday and Wednesday.
The NCB seized drugs worth Rs 2.5 crore from the possession of the accused, the biggest seizure in the case till now, with 28 arrests having been made so far, the highest number of arrested accused in a case investigated by the agency in recent times.
On Tuesday, the NCB arrested Jinendra Jain alias Regel Mahakal and on Wednesday, it arrested Mohammad Azam Shaikh, both in their forties. “Shaikh is the main supplier of charas linked to this case,” the agency said in a statement. The arrests were initiated by a team led by NCB Mumbai and Goa Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede. The officer and his team have been scanning several peddlers in the western suburbs of the city to crack the drug operation.
On Tuesday, the NCB intercepted Jain, who was wanted in the case. “Jain was named in the statement dated September 7, 2020 of accused Anuj Keshwani, a supplier of charas (hashish). Jain is involved in the trafficking of hashish in the Mumbai area,” the statement said. In September, the agency had arrested Keshwani and Kaizan, allegedly part of the drug syndicate. Keshwani was then found in possession of 590 grams of hashish, 0.64 grams of LSD sheets and 304 grams of marijuana.
The arrest of Jain led the NCB to nab Shaikh, whom they have termed as the “main supplier of charas linked to this case”. The NCB recovered 5 kilograms of charas, small quantities of opium and ecstasy and Rs 13.51 lakh from Shaikh’s house at Millat Nagar in Oshiwara. “The said seizure is a part of the follow-up in the Rhea Chakraborty case and this is the biggest haul of drugs seized in this particular case,” the statement read. “The charas seized in this case is 'Malana Cream’, which is the most desirable charas in the world. The said charas is grown only in the Malana Region of Himachal Pradesh. The international market price of Malana Cream ranges from Rs 40-50 lakh per kilogram,” it added.
Shaikh procured the Malana Cream from Himachal Pradesh to be supplied in Mumbai through his discreet network. The agency has claimed that Shaikh’s arrest will be a big blow to the illegal contraband network operating in the city.
Explaining the entire supply of drugs eventually reaching the late actor, a high-ranking NCB officer said, “Shaikh provided drugs to Jain, who supplied them to Keshwani. Our probe revealed that Keshwani supplied drugs to Kaizan Ebrahim. It was Kaizan who provided contraband to Dipesh Sawant, who was a cook working with Rajput.”
Investigations revealed that Jain peddled the contraband while working as a disc jockey while Shaikh ran a garment business, both of which were likely cover-ups for their drug activities, the agency believes. Shaikh has been earlier arrested in an assault case filed by his wife.
The NCB had earlier told the court that actor Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty had “ordered Sawant to receive a delivery of 10 grams of charas from Kaizan near Mount Blanc building.”
The case had hogged the media limelight as the agency cracked down on drug peddlers and questioned several Bollywood actors. The NCB has been scanning the alleged network of several drug peddlers with high profile personalities, in an extended probe in the case linked to the death of Rajput. It has also been closely watching the drug peddling activity in the western suburbs of Andheri, Khar, Bandra, Santacruz and Juhu, home to several Bollywood and entertainment personalities.
