Mumbai dealer supplying drugs to actors caught; Rs12 L-worth LSD, cocaine seized

The accused ran a drug racket under the guise of running a video library.

After a month of under-cover operation, the anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the Mumbai crime branch,on Saturday, arrested a 45-year-old man with a commercial quantity of LSD and cocaine worth Rs12.48 lakh, that was being supplied to struggling models and actors staying in the western suburbs.

The anti-narcotics cell of Mumbai crime branch, on Saturday, arrested a peddler with LSD and cocaine worth Rs12.48 lakh. (HT File/Representational Image)

The accused has been identified as Bakul Chanderia, who runs a big video library at Pali Hill in Bandra. He was running the drug racket under the guise of running his library.

“We have seized 106 gram of cocaine worth Rs8.48 lakh and LSD dots worth Rs4 lakh. The total seizure is worth Rs14.56 lakh, including cash found from the accused’s residence,” Shivdeep Lande, deputy commissioner of police, ANC, told HT.

The ANC’s Azad Maidan unit had kept an eye on Chanderia’s activities.

Acting on a tip off that Chanderia had kept drugs at his home, a team led by unit head inspector Santosh Bhalekar, and comprising of assistant inspector Pramod Kumbhar and constables Arun Kedar and Nilesh Nimbalkar, raided his flat in Khar (west) when his wife and children were not there.

Two cell phones belonging to Chanderia have also been seized. He was produced before a magistrate court and remanded to police custody till December 16.

Incidentally, he has a criminal record where the Khar police, in 2012, had arrested him for possessing 4 grams of cocaine at a terrace party where celebrities and IPL players were caught consuming drugs. About 100 persons were detained and their samples seized. About 86 of them, including two IPL players and an actor couple had tested positive for drugs.