The Mundhwa police have detained a woman under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT-NDPS) Act, 1988, for repeated involvement in the illegal drug trade, police said on Saturday. Officials said this is the first time such a case has been registered in Pune city, following similar cases previously reported in Navi Mumbai and Nagpur.
The woman, identified as Reena Ravi Ghumane, 32, was detained after police found that she had allegedly continued to be involved in narcotics-related activities despite being booked in an earlier NDPS case and subsequently securing bail. She has been lodged at the Kolhapur Central Prison in Kalamba under police escort.
According to police, Ghumane was first booked at the Mundhwa police station in 2022 under Sections 8(c) and 20(b)(ii)(b) of the NDPS Act. She was granted bail by the Pune Sessions Court on August 8, 2022.
Police said she was subsequently found to be allegedly involved in the illegal sale of narcotic substances again. A second case was registered against her at the Mundhwa police station on May 19, 2025, under Sections 8(c), 20(b)(ii)(b) and 29 of the NDPS Act. She was granted bail in the second case as well, police said.
However, after reviewing her criminal record and alleged repeated involvement in narcotics-related activities, senior police officers concluded that preventive detention was necessary to stop her from continuing such activities.
{{/usCountry}}However, after reviewing her criminal record and alleged repeated involvement in narcotics-related activities, senior police officers concluded that preventive detention was necessary to stop her from continuing such activities.
{{/usCountry}}The PIT-NDPS Act is a law that allows police to preventively detain people suspected of being involved in illegal drug trafficking, to stop them from continuing such activities. Unlike a regular NDPS case, where a person is arrested for a specific drug offence and prosecuted in court, PIT-NDPS is used to stop a person from carrying out further drug-related activities.
A proposal seeking her detention under the PIT-NDPS Act was therefore submitted through the Pune police commissioner to the competent authority. Following approval, she was detained and sent to Kolhapur Central Prison.
Jeevan Beniwal, deputy commissioner of police (zone 6), said, “PIT-NDPS is an extended version of the actual NDPS. Under this, police can take preventive detention action against any such frequent offender of NDPS cases.”
According to Beniwal, after fulfilling certain criteria, police can use sections of PIT-NDPS to avoid their future involvement in the crime.
Smita Vasnik, senior police inspector at Mundhawa police station, said, “The action against Ghumane is the first PIT-NDPS preventive detention in Pune city, marking a significant use of the preventive detention law in drug-related cases.’’