Drug bust: Raw material seized in joint operation with Maharashtra police worth Rs 1.2 crore, says Karnataka home minister

Bengaluru: The Maharashtra Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), which recently arrested an alleged drug peddler in Maharashtra, conducted raids in Belagavi and Bengaluru recently. Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara, who described it as a joint operation by Maharashtra and Bengaluru police, said the seized narcotics were worth Rs 1.2 crore.The raids were conducted in Kothanuru, Bagaluru, and Avalahalli police station limits. The home minister, who was slammed by the opposition BJP for turning a blind eye to the drug menace in the state, maintained that the seized goods were not drugs but raw materials used to prepare them. The raids were conducted before the drugs were manufactured, he clarified.
ANTF has so far arrested four people: one in Maharashtra, another in Belagavi, and two in Bengaluru. It has pegged the value of the seized chemicals at Rs 55 crore. However, Parameshwara said, "It is about 3.5kg of chemicals, which cost approximately Rs 30 lakh per kg. In total, it is approximately Rs 1.2 crore. It's not Rs 55.8 crore; it's a smaller amount. They have claimed it to be Rs 55.8 crore, which is why I'm issuing a clarification."According to him, a state police team headed by a DCP was involved in the operation along with a scene-of-crime officers and a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) team. Projecting this as only a Maharashtra ANTF operation is not correct, he said. Noting that Karnataka police have been intensifying anti-drug operations since Nov, following inputs that peddlers may stock drugs for New Year celebrations, he said the authorities have so far seized drugs worth Rs 165 crore.A senior officer who was part of the raids said that following the arrest of Abdul Kadar Sheik, 43, in Mumbai, police got information about his associates Prashanth Yellappa Patil of Belagavi, Suraj Ramesh Yadav, who was arrested from Kattiganahalli of Yelahanka, and Malkhan Ramlal Bishnoi, arrested from Kannur. The arrests were made on Dec 24, and the raids were conducted on Dec 25. The officer added that the accused were only storing the raw materials in a carpenter shop and a house; they were not yet manufacturing the drugs.