Maharashtra: Medical shop owner held with drugs worth Rs 1.69 crore in Thane

A case has been registered at Mumbra police station against the accused. Pic/Thane Police

A 55-year-old medical shop owner from Palghar district in Maharashtra has been arrested by the Thane Police's Crime Branch with alleged narcotic drugs mephedrone or MD in his possession that was worth over Rs. 1.69 crore.

According to police officials, the accused ran a medical shop at Kudus in Palghar which was allegedly a cover for him to operate as a drug supplier.

IN PHOTOS: Heavy rains lash parts of Mumbai as IMD issues orange alert for city

4 months agoPHOTO GALLERY

The accused is identified as Mohanlal Guneshaji Joshi alias Sharma, and on July 18, police had received a tip-off about him and his ‘drug transaction' in Thane. As per the tip-off, police laid a trap at the Mumbai bypass road close to Uddanpul where he was supposed to pass-by in his car and accordingly, he was caught. During the search, police recovered the contraband which was 1.209 kg of MD.

Senior PI Sachin Gaikwad confirmed that Sharma, a resident of Pragati Nagar in Kudus, ran a medical shop as a front for his real business which is selling and supplying MD. On the day when Sharma was caught, he was either supplying the MD, or taking up the drugs from a seller, said police who will be interrogating him starting Monday.

A case has been registered at Mumbra police station under sections 8 (a) and 22 (a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

A senior officer confirmed that the team will now be trying to identify the source of the seized MD, its intended recipients, and others linked to Sharma's supply network.

The operation was carried out by Senior PI Sachin Gaikwad, along with PI Amit Yadav, PSI Prakash Shirsath, PSI Dayanand Naik, and other personnel of the Crime Branch Unit-1.