--Crime Branch & Jinsi Police Action
--112 syrup bottles seized
Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Even as the police department has been cracking down on major drug traffickers, criminals already on record have entered the drug business and are running networks.
Mohammad Osman Mokati (24), an accused in the Kiradpura riots case, was caught red-handed along with his elder brother Mohd Sofiyan Mokati (33), both residents of Chhaus Colony, while transporting bottles of syrup for sale.
Senior Police Inspector Gajanan Kalyankar stated that the Crime Branch arrested them on Monday at midnight.
City police, under the leadership of Commissioner of Police Pravin Pawar, conducted effective operations against narcotics, rattling major traffickers over the past year. Crime Branch officers on patrol spotted a suspicious auto-rickshaw speeding past the Panchayat Samiti office at around 12.30 AM on April 21.
PSIs Sandeep Kale and Abhijit Chikhalikar gave chase and stopped the driver.
A box containing 112 bottles of syrup meant for consumption was found inside the auto-rickshaw.
Upon learning of the incident, Senior Police Inspector of Jinsi Police Station Shivaji Budhwant rushed to the scene. Constables Sandeep Tayde, Santosh Pardhe, Manoj Vikhankar, and Balu Nagre detained the driver, Osman.
Box
Was involved in 2023 Riots
After Osman's arrest, interrogation revealed that he had been selling in partnership with his elder brother Sofiyan, who was also arrested.
Osman already has a prior drug-related case against him and was also an accused in the communal riots that broke out in Kiradpura on March 30, 2023. He is currently out on bail in both cases.