Ephedrine haul: Jay Mukhi tipped off kingpin about raid, say Mumbai police

Mukhi, who is one of the key accused in the case, helped transport the ephedrine from Solapur to local drug peddlers in and around Mumbai, Thane, and Gujarat.

The kingpin of the Rs2,000-crore ephedrine drug racket, Kishoresingh Rathod, has been taken to Gujarat along with his driver, Bharat Katiya, for questioning by the Thane police on Thursday. Rathod was arrested from Rajasthan three weeks ago.

HT file The police plan to probe how the ephedrine was manufactured, and the people who were involved in its transportation and delivery. photo

The police plan to probe how the ephedrine was manufactured, and the people who were involved in its transportation and delivery. They also want to investigate the involvement of angadiyas in the exchange of money.

The Thane police also found that Rathod was tipped off about the raid conducted at the Solapur factory – Avon Life sciences limited – by Jay Mukhi.

Mukhi, who is one of the key accused in the case, helped transport the ephedrine from Solapur to local drug peddlers in and around Mumbai, Thane, and Gujarat.

“When we raided the Solapur factory on April 13 last year, Jay Mukhi, who was in Mumbai, alerted Rathod about the raid, who then formulated an escape plan. Rathod told his family that had to travel out of Gujarat for ‘office work’. He initially fled to Africa, and later went to Madhya Pradesh, from where he would come to the Gujarat border to keep a check on the police,” said a police official.

A senior police inspector from Thane police commissionerate said, “We are in touch with the US DEA, are following up on the case. We have shared all the necessary details with them about case”.

The Thane police have arrested 14 people in Ephedrine drug haul, and more than half a dozen of people are wanted in the case. Apart from this, police are also keeping a close watch on Nigerians in Thane and Navi Mumbai, as the police suspect that they helped the arrested accused – Jay Mukhi and Sushil Kumar Assikanan – to get more customers.