Duo held with ganja worth ₹5.25 lakh

The anti-narcotics department has arrested Gurunath Saple, 42, and Mangesh Shivne, 40, after they found ganja in their private vehicles.

The Thane anti-narcotics department busted a drug trafficking racket operational in Kalyan recently and seized 20kg of ganja (marijuana) worth ₹5.25 lakh. Two people were also arrested for illegal trafficking of drugs from the Govindwadi bypass, near Durgadi fort in Kalyan.

Shivne is a resident of Nashik and used to supply ganja to the drug suppliers in Kalyan. The duo has been remanded in police custody till September 16. (HT image)

The anti-narcotics department has arrested Gurunath Saple, 42, and Mangesh Shivne, 40, after they found ganja in their private vehicles.

An officer from anti-narcotics cell said, “We got a tip-off that drugs were being smuggled into Kalyan from Govindwadi bypass near Durgadi fort, which is one of the entry points to the city. We laid a trap on September 10 and saw a car entering Kalyan city at Durgadi chowk from the bypass.”

The police said the car was speeding so they stopped it. “We found 20.382 kg of ganja in the car. We arrested the duo. Primary inquiry found that the ganja was brought to the city from Nashik.”

He added that the duo had planned to sell the ganja in Kalyan.

Shivne is a resident of Nashik and used to supply ganja to the drug suppliers in Kalyan. The duo has been remanded in police custody till September 16.

He added, “We are trying to find out from where the duo brought ganja in such a huge quantity and the other accomplices of the two.”The ANC has registered a case in the Bazarpeth police station against the duo under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).