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By:

Dr. Abhilash Dawre

19 March 2025 at 5:18:41 pm

Rs 27 crore worth narcotics seized; inter-state cartel uncovered

Thane : In a major breakthrough against drug trafficking, Mumbra police have seized a massive stockpile of mefedrone valued at approximately 27.21 crore. Acting on critical intelligence, the Narcotics Control Unit conducted a special operation extending as far as Madhya Pradesh, resulting in the arrest of five key drug traffickers involved in supplying large quantities of mefedrone to the Thane region.   The operation was led by Assistant Police Inspector Rohit Kedar and Ganesh Jadhav under...

Rs 27 crore worth narcotics seized; inter-state cartel uncovered

Thane : In a major breakthrough against drug trafficking, Mumbra police have seized a massive stockpile of mefedrone valued at approximately 27.21 crore. Acting on critical intelligence, the Narcotics Control Unit conducted a special operation extending as far as Madhya Pradesh, resulting in the arrest of five key drug traffickers involved in supplying large quantities of mefedrone to the Thane region.   The operation was led by Assistant Police Inspector Rohit Kedar and Ganesh Jadhav under the supervision of Senior Police Inspector Anil Shinde. The initial seizure took place near Bilal Hospital, where suspect Basu Sayyed was caught with 23.5 grams of mefedrone. Further interrogation revealed a large-scale supply chain sourcing drugs from Madhya Pradesh.   Subsequently, police arrested Ramsingh Gujjar and Kailas Balai, recovering an additional 3.515 kilograms of mefedrone from their possession. Investigations traced the supply back to two major traffickers Manohar Gurjar and Raju Mansuri based in Madhya Pradesh.   The Mumbra police team then traveled to Madhya Pradesh, arresting both Gurjar and Mansuri and confiscating a staggering 9.956 kilograms of mefedrone from them.   In total, the operation resulted in the seizure of 13.6295 kilograms of mefedrone, with a street value exceeding 27.21 crore. All five accused have been taken into custody.   According to police sources, the arrested individuals have prior records involving serious offenses under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Indian Penal Code, and Arms Act. They were engaged in trafficking mefedrone in bulk quantities from Madhya Pradesh to the Thane region.   This successful operation was carried out under the guidance of ACP Priya Damale (Kalwa Division), Senior Police Inspector Anil Shinde, Crime Inspector Sharad Kumbhar, and supported by the NDPS unit officers and staff of Mumbra Police Station.   Since January this year, Mumbra police’s NDPS unit has conducted 954 seizures and 58 raids, confiscating narcotics worth over 48 crore, significantly impacting drug trafficking activities in the area.

CPFR seeks PM’s intervention

To lift anti-farmer curbs on MSP cotton procurement rules

Mumbai: The Council for Protection of Farmers Rights-Kisan Bharti has demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to direct the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to rollback its restrictive cotton procurement rules hitting farmers in the state.

 

In an appeal to the PM, CPFR-Kisan Bharti President Barr. Vinod Tiwari said that the CCI’s recent move – to cap cotton procurement at only 7 quintals/acre, almost half of the earlier limit of 13 quintals/acre – has heightened the agony among lakhs of cotton farmers in Maharashtra and adjoining Telangana.

 

“This bizarre slash in the limit, imposed after yield surveys conducted this Kharif season, has driven farmers to sell nearly 80 percent of the produce to private traders at very low prices. This has added to the already severe distress among farmlands,” Tiwari told ‘The Perfect Voice’.

 

In view of the cutbacks, farmers have no options but to dispose of their cotton stocks at around Rs 6500/quintal or lower, almost 25 pc below the MSP of Rs 8110/quintal.

 

The worst-affected are those tillers who produce more than 5 quintas/acre who cannot sell their full yield to CCI owing to the restrictions, and hence offload it to any private buyers at extremely low rates and much below the MSP.

 

“Worsening the crisis is the CCI’s rigid moisture-content requirements of 8-12 pc which is difficult to maintain. In view of the fog, intermittent rains, drop in winter temperatures, natural moisture levels in the cotton remains high. Despite drying it in the open for days, farmers report moisture levels at 20 pc or higher, and their stocks are rejected outright at CCI procurement centres,” explained Tiwari.

 

Citing examples, the CPFR-Kisan Bharti said in Yavatmal district alone, 236,752 farmers opted for cotton cultivation across 825,932 acres, yielding around 3.3 million quintals.

 

However, of this huge quantity, the CCI has procured barley 7,921 quintals and the private traders lapped up some 115,000 quintals at low rates – exposing the gaps between government promises vis-à-vis ground realities.

 

Farmers rued that the CCI’s impossible regulations are directly pushing them into the trap of private traders, who bargain hard to get the cotton stocks at cheap rates.

 

The CPFR-Kisan Bharti said that of the 27 procurement centres announced by CCI, barely a handful are operating, leading to long queues, increased transportation costs and logistical chaos for the already harassed farmers.

 

“Our demand is to increase the procurement to at least 12 quintals/acre, relax the moisture content limits to 22 pc owing to the natural hazards and open more procurement centres to quicken the process,” said Tiwari.

 

Since the CCI is the nodal agency for MSP procurement, it is expected to protect the farmers’ interest rather than penalizing them for things beyond their control, hence the PM must immediately direct the CCI to do the needful help the farmers before they resort to extreme measures, he urged.

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