Mumbai: The Trombay police have arrested two friends for selling ‘Afghani charas’ that one of them had found on the Uran cost. In August, the Raigad police had found almost 107 packets of charas worth Rs4.50 crore at the same site.
The accused who thought this was a “blessing from God” to make him rich, decided to sell it, along with his driver friend; however ended up landing in jail.
Earlier, after seizing the material, the Raigad police had instructed all the people on the coast, and nearby areas to inform the police if they found any such packets and warned of action against them for personal or commercial use.
Trombay police receives intel on duo
Earlier in August, fisherman Akshay Lakshman Waghmare of Pirwadi in Uran, found similar-looking packets from the coast of Pirwadi beach while fishing. Instead of alerting the cops about it, he took it home out of curiosity. The packets had 'Afghan Product' written on it, wrapped in layers of plastic. Inside there were bundles of charas. Later Waghmare and his best friend Nadeem Mohammad Shah, 30, of Shakkar Peer area decided to sell it.
“Both thanked their respective Gods for sending them gifts to make them rich. They gathered information about interested buyers sold it in Shivaji Nagar and Dongri areas,” said a police inspector Sharad Nanekar.
The Trombay police received a tip-off about the duo coming to Mankhurd area to sell the contraband, and Waghmare was the first to get caught who had 250 gram of charas in his possession. When asked about his partner, he said it’s stored at Nadeem’s residence in Uran.
After Waghmare’s arrest, a team was sent to Uran from where Nadeem was arrested and 6.44kg contraband worth Rs30,22,500 was seized. During the interrogation, police got to know about the duo’s plan of making a huge business out of this illegal business.
A case has been registered against the two under several sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and are currently remanded to police custody till Saturday.
The Trombay police added that they, along with Uran police, are looking for the possibility of more people on the coast who might have encountered such packets of charas. These packets are suspected to have originated from either Pakistan or Afghanistan, added the police.
