Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
The city’s narcotics consumption has surged, with criminals smuggling expensive MD powder from Gujarat and Mumbai. In a five-day operation, the Crime Branch uncovered a network of 20 local peddlers. Among them, plumber-turned-drug peddler Shaikh Kaleem reportedly earned millions in a short time.
Raids on Kaleem’s house recovered 53.32 grams of MD powder, Rs 3.26 lakh cash, 8 tolas of 24-carat gold jewelry, and 7 mobile phones. Kaleem admitted sourcing drugs from Ashpak Patel, the absconding mastermind residing at Champa Chowk, Shahabad. Nearby, the Paonde couple’s house yielded 756 bottles of liquid drugs worth Rs 3.74 lakh. On Wednesday, Shaikh Kaleem (35), Anita Paonde (20), Avinash Paonde (23), and Shaikh Mustaq (27) were arrested. Earlier, Shaikh Sameer (24), Umar Abdul (36, Latur), and Sayed Wahab (23, Udgir) were caught smuggling intoxicant medicines worth over Rs 12.48 lakh, and medical driver Sayyed Shahid Ali Ibrahim (30, Udgir) was also arrested. Ashpak reportedly recruited underprivileged individuals as agents with advance payments; non-compliance incurred double penalties, and confiscated phones explained the seven mobiles found at Kaleem’s residence. Kaleem sold 40-mg MD packets to students and high-society partygoers at Rs 3,000 per packet, with seized cash and valuables suspected as proceeds from sales. The racket involves over 20 agents assigned by locality. Police Inspector Gajanan Kalyankar, Assistant police inspector’s Vinayak Shelke, Ravikant Gacche, Arjun Kadam, and police sub-inspector Pravin Wagh led the raids and investigations. Authorities are tracking remaining network members and pursuing Ashpak Patel.