Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
The court sent 13 accused to judicial custody after rejecting the police request for extended custody, citing delays in sending drug samples to the forensic department.
Last week, a major racket distributing prescription drugs for abuse across Marathwada and Western Maharashtra was exposed. On 12 September, the Crime Branch’s Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) seized 2,504 illegal medicine bottles from a logistics company in Waluj. Arrested were Avinash Patil, Rupesh Patil, Amol Yevale, Arshad Pathan, Sameer Shaikh, Abdul Ajim, Mosin Tamboli, Sayyed Sameer (Stylo), Sohel Shah, Rizwan Khan, and Sayyed Jafar, many of whom were medical drivers or MR employees. The seized stock contained Codeine Phosphate, a morphine-like substance. Authorities plan to write to the pharmaceutical company supplying the drugs from Uttar Pradesh to trace who illegally supplied them to the accused. The court had granted police custody of all 13 accused until 18 September. However, the defense pointed out that police were expected to send drug samples to the forensic department within 72 hours, but the letter was sent only on the sixth day. Citing this inefficiency, the court denied the extended custody request and ordered judicial custody for all accused.