Third suspect arrested in Bhopal drug manufacturing case

Bhopal, Oct 7 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Police on Monday said they have arrested a third suspect, Harish Anjana, in connection with a drug case and handed him to Gujarat ATS for further interrogation.

He was arrested in Mandsaur district, around 350 km from Bhopal. Mandsaur Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Anand said the Gujarat ATS team had sought co-operation in the matter, subsequently, the action was taken.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Anjana had been booked for charges of drug supply in Mandsaur and Gwalior in the past. "During a brief interrogation, Anjana has revealed the name of one more suspect Prem Patidar, and we will arrest him soon," Anand told the media.

The SP further said the nexus was operating through Vapi and Ahmedabad in Gujarat and bordering areas of Rajasthan also. He said teams have been formed to nab the other suspects in border areas with Gujarat and Rajasthan.

"Investigation in the matter is still open and some more suspects are likely to be arrested soon," Mandsaur SP added.

The development came a day after Gujarat ATS and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raided a factory in Bagroda Industrial Estate located on the outskirts of Bhopal and seized over Rs 1,800 crore worth of the designer drug mephedrone (MD) and raw materials from a factory on Saturday.

During the operation, two suspects -- Amit Prakashchndra Chaturvedi and Sanyal Bane -- were arrested. The authorities were tipped off that the two were involved in the illegal manufacture and sale of MD under the guise of a manufacturing unit in Bhopal.

According to police, a preliminary investigation revealed that Bane had been arrested in 2017 for a similar offence and had served five years in prison.

After his release, he conspired with Amit Prakashchandra Chaturvedi to manufacture and sell MD and rented a shed in Bagroda Industrial Estate six to seven months ago. They began production of MD three months back, police said.

The operation was carried out by Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Delhi. The information was first shared by Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi in a post on social media platform X on Sunday. He wrote in his post, "Kudos to Gujarat ATS and NCB (Ops), Delhi, for a massive win in the fight against drugs! Recently, they raided a factory in Bhopal and seized MD drugs and materials used to manufacture MD, with a staggering total value of Rs 1,814 crore."