Gujarat drug bust: Police foil meth factory plan near Surat, 1 accused operated from jail
According to Surat police, the accused were involved in the illicit production of synthetic drugs, particularly methamphetamine, commonly known as ‘MD’
The Gujarat police have busted a drug racket and nabbed four accused, one of them identified as Sunil Kaushik Sharma who is currently lodged in the Lajpore Central Jail in Surat, a senior police official said on Thursday.
The police operation thwarted their elaborate plan to smuggle raw materials from Rajasthan and establish a manufacturing factory for narcotic drugs in the outskirts of Surat.
According to Surat police, the accused were involved in the illicit production of synthetic drugs, particularly methamphetamine, commonly known as ‘MD’.
“We have seized about 10.5kg of processed raw material from Rajasthan required to make MD drugs. It required two more steps to make the drug. This is enough to make 8.5-9 kg of MD, estimated at around ₹8-9 crore in the illegal market. All four accused, including the one in Lajpore jail, were previously associated with NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) activities. We came to know about Sunil Sharma’s involvement after the Rajasthan operation,” said Sharad Singhal, Joint Commissioner of Police, Surat.
Based on a tip-off, a team of Surat Crime Branch carried out an operation in Rajasthan and seized a huge quantity of narcotic substances in the form of granules and powder from different plastic bags in Pati village of Pali district in Rajasthan. The police arrested Ghanshyam Mulani, Virmani alias Anna Panduranga and Gajanand Sharma, the father of Sunil Sharma.
“All three individuals were incarcerated at Lajpore jail, where they devised a plan in collaboration with Sunil Sharma to establish a drug manufacturing unit in Umargam, situated in Valsad district. To bring their scheme to fruition, the three of them made the decision to jump parole. Subsequently, Sunil Sharma who was in jail reached out to his father, Gajanand Sharma, who resides in Bhiwani, Haryana, and together they meticulously orchestrated the details of their plan,” said a police official, who preferred to remain anonymous.
The police raided Sunil Sharma’s cell in Lajpore jail on Wednesday and recovered a mobile phone.
Earlier, Ghanshyam Mulani, Anna Panduranga and Gajanand Sharma had confessed to having procured 12kg of raw materials used in the manufacture of MD and having sold the drugs in Rajasthan.
“Anna Panduranga was earlier nabbed by Detection of Crime Branch from Mumbai while Sunil Sharma was arrested by Director of Revenue Intelligence in December 2022 after two bag packs with contraband while travelling from Delhi to Mumbai by train,” the official added.
