Drug trade racket busted, 40L tablets seized; 4 held

3 accused arrested in Barnala, fourth in Mathura, from where intoxicating tablets were being supplied to Punjab

The Punjab police on Friday busted a racket involving illegal trade of psychotropic drugs with the arrest of four persons. The police also seized over 40 lakh intoxicating tablets, capsules, injections, valuing between ₹4-5 crore.

Disclosing this, Punjab director general of police Dinkar Gupta said the Barnala police led the special operation following a tip-off and raided a godown situated on Masani bypass link road, Saraswati Kund, Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), which was used to store drugs. While three of the accused were arrested in Barnala, the fourth was nabbed in Mathura.

Giving details of the operation, the DGP said a trap was laid by a police party led by crime investigation agency wing, Barnala. He said one of the accused Mohan Lal of Uppali village was nabbed with 800 Intoxicating tablets (Alprasafe 0.5mg) and his interrogation led to the arrest of two more persons —identified as Balwinder Kumar of Om Shiva Medical Hall, Barnala, and Naresh Mittal, with 1,700 Intoxicating tablets (Clovidol 100 SR).

Further interrogation of the main accused Naresh Mittal, who was receiving drugs at his medical store, unveiled a chain of supply of psychotropic drugs to Punjab from other states, said the DGP, adding that further investigations are likely to unmask many other players in the racket.

Initially, police recovered 80,000 tablets from Qureshi. His interrogation led to a recovery of 39.21 lakh intoxicating tablets, capsules, injections from the godown in Mathura, the DGP said.