Flood of drugs from Surat; Youth from Chandmari Area of cantonment settled in Surat is racket's mastermind

Anti-Narcotics Task Force travels to Surat for the first time, tightens the noose; medical store owner arrested

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

In a shocking revelation, a youth from the Chandmari area of the Cantonment, operating out of Surat, has been found to be the key supplier of intoxicant tablets and liquid medicines to the city and other districts. The Anti-Narcotics Task Force, after thorough investigation, nabbed Ajmat Beg (24, Subhashnagar). The medical store owner who supplied him the stock Ramesh Chaudhary (35, Palanpur village, Surat) was also arrested and brought to the city. Despite repeated action against drug peddlers, the sale of intoxicant tablets and liquid medicines in the city continues unabated. Two days ago, the Task Force had arrested Sayed Azhar (Chandmari, Cantonment) the brother of notorious Cantonment criminal Sayed Feroz alias Andha Sayed Akbar (30) along with gang member Taufiq Rashid Ali (24, resident of Chandmari, Kashmir Mohalla, Cantonment). A total of 4,400 tablets and 132 bottles of liquid medicine, worth over Rs 19.53 lakhs, were seized from them. Both confessed to having brought the consignment from Surat the previous week. Following this, on the instructions of Superintendent Ajit Tike and deputy commissioner Sainath Thombare, police inspector Geeta Bagwade launched a search for the main supplier.

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Set up home with a woman trafficker

For several years, a woman named Ayesha has been named in the drug racket. Cases are registered against her at Krantichowk and Jinsi police stations, but city police made no effort to arrest her.

Three days ago, the Task Force travelled to Surat to track her down. During the search, Ajmat, who was living with her, was caught. Police were shocked to learn that Ajmat was originally a resident of Chandmari, Cantonment.

In 2021, Ajmat went to Surat for work. There, he began living with Ayesha, a woman trafficker, and started drug smuggling. In 2023, he was made a co-accused in the Andha Feroz case.

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Bottle Worth Rs 50–60 sold for Rs 400 in the City

Surat's Palanpur-based medical store owner Ramesh Chaudhary, who supplied stock to Ajmat, was also arrested by the Task Force. Originally from Rajasthan, Ramesh made significant profits by supplying medicines for intoxication. Bottles available for ₹50–60 are sold by local traffickers in the city for up to Rs 400.

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Black Market Purchase and Sale

Once the stock leaves Ajmat and Chaudhary's company, tablets and bottles are sold in the black market without bills. Fake bills are also generated as needed. The court has remanded the accused to police custody until April 1.

The operation was carried out by Assistant police inspector Vijay Jagdale, Deepali Patil, Vishwas Shinde, and constables Ravindra Salve, Nitin Jadhav, Sainath Agiwale, Satish Patil, Atul Tupe, Rahul Kale, Suraj Jonwal, Harish Mundhe, Amit Thakur, Dnyaneshwar Shelar, Jyoti Kirtikar, Amrapali Suryavanshi, and Priyanka Pawar.