Inter-state pharma cartel busted, 7 held
The special task force (STF) of the Punjab Police busted an interstate network, involved in manufacturing and supplying illegal psychotropic substances, operating from a pharma factory based in Baddi of Himachal, said director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Saturday.
The operation, which was taken up in five states — Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, saw the arrest of seven drug smugglers/ suppliers besides the seizure of 70.42 lakh intoxicating tablets/ capsules, 725.5 kg tramadol powder and Rs 2.37 lakh drug money.
The development came after the STF, border range, Amritsar, carried out a three-month-long investigation into backward and forward linkages of Sukhwinder Singh, alias Dhami, of Kot Muhammad Khan village in Tarn Taran and Jaspreet Singh, alias Jass, of Govind Nagar, Amritsar. They were caught from Beas in February this year. As many as 4.24 lakh narcotic tablets/capsules and Rs 1 lakh drug money were seized from them. DGP Yadav said that following the trail after the two arrests, police teams led by STF SP Vishaljit Singh and DSP Vavinder Kumar managed to trace and arrest the main kingpin of the racket, identified as Alex Paliwal, from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. As many as 9.04 lakh intoxicating tablets/ capsules and Rs 1.37 lakh drug money were seized from him.
Based on the information Paliwal provided, the operation was extended to Himachal where police teams scrutinised Biogenetic Drug Private Limited and seized records, showing that it manufactured over 20 crore Alprazolam tablets in just eight months. “The records traced the supply chain to M/s Aster Pharma in Maharashtra. Further probe exposed Biogenetic Drug Private Limited’s sister company — Smilex Pharmachem Drug Industries — based in Baddi,” the DGP said. The operation targeting Smilex Pharmachem Drug Industries led to seizure of 47.32 lakh intoxicating capsules and 725.5 kg tramadol powder. The DGP said the operation led to the arrest of Intezar Salmani, Prince Salmani, Baljinder Singh and Suba Singh. Police teams recovered another chunk of 9.8 lakh intoxicating tablets/capsules from a vehicle near the Chandigarh railway station.