In a continuing crackdown on drug-related crimes, Latur police have arrested three more individuals for allegedly purchasing MD drugs with the intent to consume. Earlier, two men had already been arrested in connection with the case. A fresh FIR was filed at Vivekanand Chowk Police Station on Sunday. The three new accused were taken into custody and produced before a Latur court, which remanded them to four days of police custody. Officials confirmed that none of the accused are students, and students are not among the drug consumers in this case, according to initial investigations.
Acting on a tip-off about drugs being stored in the LIC Colony area of Latur, the local crime branch conducted a raid on July 11. During the raid, they arrested Ganesh Arjun Shendge (30) from Latur and Ranjit Tukaram Jadhav from Dahisar, Mumbai. Police recovered 79 grams of MD drug packets and a country-made pistol. A case was subsequently registered at Vivekanand Chowk Police Station. The local crime branch and police from the said station are jointly investigating the case, which they now believe has links extending to Mumbai’s drug network.
Interrogation of the two initially arrested accused revealed the names of three consumers who reportedly bought the MD drugs for personal use. The accused named Ajay Dhanraj Suryawanshi (21), a resident of Shivparvatinagar, Kanheri Shivar, Latur; Azhar Sayyed (28) from Ratnapur Chowk, Latur; and Arjun alias Gotya Achyutrao Kupkar (30) from Arvi, Latur. These three were soon taken into custody and charged with purchasing drugs with the intention of consumption. Police emphasized that these individuals were not part of any organized peddling ring but were end-users.
During intense questioning, the three accused confessed that they were close friends of Ganesh Shendge and regularly bought drugs from him for personal use. They admitted that Shendge not only supplied them but also distributed drugs among other friends in the area. Their statements have helped police build a clearer picture of how the drugs were being circulated locally. While this hints at a deeper social network of users, officials remain firm that the core of the operation is being investigated and that the probe is focused on dismantling the entire supply chain.
Police have intensified efforts to locate a third accused who remains at large. Joint teams from the Local Crime Branch and Vivekanand Chowk Police Station are pursuing leads and actively searching for the fugitive. Investigators are also trying to determine the exact origin of the MD drugs and track down all those involved in supplying and distributing them. Authorities are treating this as a high-priority case due to the potential network involved. Special teams have been dispatched in multiple directions to probe all angles and unearth the broader implications of the case across Latur and possibly Mumbai.