Sambhajinagar cops bust illegal cough syrup racket, seize contraband worth Rs 12.5 lakh

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The city crime branch on Tuesday busted an illegal racket involved in stocking and selling intoxicating cough syrup in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and seized contraband and valuables collectively worth Rs 12.46 lakh. Five people were arrested, and seven others were named as wanted accused.Crime branch inspector Gajanan Kalyankar said that acting on a tip-off received on Tuesday, a crime branch team raided the residence of the prime accused, Ubaidullah Abdullah (32), a resident of Rehmaniya Colony in Kiradpura. During the search, the police recovered a large consignment of cough syrup containing codeine phosphate and triprolidine hydrochloride, substances commonly misused for their narcotic effects.Police seized 3,000 sealed bottles of CODYLINE cough syrup, each of 100 ml, valued at Rs 12 lakh at the market rate of Rs 400 per bottle. They also recovered Rs 1,700 in cash and four mobile phones worth Rs 45,000, taking the total seizure to Rs 12,46,700.The arrested accused include Sheikh Sofiyan Sheikh Nazir (34), Abdul Naveed Khan Abdul Samee Khan (31), Sheikh Naved Sheikh Hamid (25) and Sheikh Ayyaz alias Sheru Sheikh Siraj (42), all residents of different localities in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.ACP (crime) Ashok Rajput said the preliminary probe revealed that the consignment was procured from Gujarat and supplied earlier to several persons in the Shah Bazaar area. "Efforts are on to arrest the remaining wanted accused," he said.Police Commissioner Pravin Pawar said, "The city police are consistently implementing a special anti-drugs campaign, and such operations will continue."A case was registered at the Jinsi police station under relevant sections of the BNS, the NDPS Act and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act on the complaint of crime branch sub-inspector Abhijeet Chikhalkar. Further investigation is being carried out by sub-inspector Sandeep Kale.