Tramadol racket: 2 masterminds held from Mumbai, more at large

Cops said the masterminds ran a call centre and used to get orders from overseas for the medicine. They also used to manufacture the drug.

Four months after the Thane anti-extortion cell (AEC) arrested four people for allegedly selling the banned drug Tramadol, the AEC arrested the alleged masterminds of the racket.

Cops arrested Nilesh Ravindra Shukla, 38, from Mumbai on January 10. His brother Sanjay, 39, was arrested on January 31.(HT PHOTO)

Senior inspector from Thane AEC, Pradeep Sharma, said, “We arrested Nilesh Ravindra Shukla, 38, from Mumbai on January 10. We interrogated him and then arrested his brother Sanjay, 39, on January 31. Both brothers were the masterminds of the racket.”

Sharma said the brothers ran a call centre and used to get orders from overseas for the medicine. They also used to manufacture the drug.

On September 25, 2018, the Thane AEC arrested four people and seized around 20,000 strips of the Tramadol Hydrochloride 100mg tablets. Tramadol has been banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Vikas Ghodke, inspector from Thane AEC, said they have the custody of Sanjay and are investigating the case.

“We found that the four arrested accused were in touch with the Shukla brothers. We have located an office in Andheri from where the accused used the run the racket. We checked with the office’s watchman and he said that all the accused had met in the office before being arrested,” said Ghodke.

Ghodke said the AEC has sent a letter to the bank in which the accused have their account.

Ghodke added, “We have got names of a few more accused in the case who are on the run. Further probe is on.”

Among the four arrested in September, Mayur Pravin Mehta, 47, was the first one to be arrested.

Based on the information provided by Mehta, a trap was laid to arrest the other three accused.