Mumbai: The Ghatkopar police foiled a drug peddling bid and seized 80 grams of mephedrone (MD) worth ₹8.1 lakh from two people after a hot chase. However, a constable was injured while trying to catch the accused. The duo was identified as Sultan Khan, 23, and Shafi Shaikh, 32, residents of Mumbra and Nagpada, respectively. To evade the prying eyes of local cops, Khan, who is a history-sheeter, makes it a point to sell contraband away from his home address.
Cops receive tip-off
Explaining how the operation was executed, Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Dnyaneshwar Kharmate from the detection team said that they had received a tip-off that two people will be coming in their jurisdiction for a dealing on Friday. However, they didn't have the duo's exact descriptions. “We had no idea how they looked, but we knew they were to arrive at Kamgar Nete Dattaji Salvi maidan in Ghatkopar West to meet a buyer. Hours before their expected arrival time, a team of at least 15-16 personnel scattered themselves all over maidan as we knew they would attempt to run,” the PSI said.
This is how the hot chase ensued:
As per the intelligence, both of them arrived and were waiting for a buyer when one of them noticed a cop. “We were all in civvies, still one of them got suspicious. He alerted his partner and we saw the change in their body language as they were looking around to mentally plan their escape route. As we started to approach them, they started running and a hot chase ensued,” the PSI added.
Constable Vikram Thorat was trying to block one of the accused who pushed him and injured his leg. They were pinned down after a brief pursuit. Looking at the situation, the buyer must have escaped, so he was not caught, said Kharmate, adding that Khan was arrested last year by the Kashimira police for a similar offence. He was behind the bars for eight months and he continued with drug peddling after release. Both of them have been remanded to police custody for three days.
