ATS arrests kingpin of Kullu drug cartel

MUMBAI: Nearly a couple of months after the probe of a drug cartel working out of Himachal Pradesh was transferred to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS), the police has arrested a hotelier and supplier of charas, aka Manali Cream. Police probe revealed that the accused was the kingpin of suppliers in Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru and Pune. According to police sources, a hotelier from Kullu, Rumi Thakur, was arrested earlier this week in connection with the seizure of charas (cannabis) valued at Rs 1.20 crore from Pune. Police said that Thakur, who is the main accused in the case, was nabbed in a covert operation and brought to the state, wherein he was produced in a court in Pune on Wednesday and was remanded in ATS custody till March 9.A senior ATS official said that Thakur, who owns Hotel River View in Kulli, was well connected with the hotels and was a kingpin of drug syndicates operational in Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru and Pune. Thakur was also a major supplier of Manali Cream, which is a type of hashish. Last year, in December, the Pune unit of the Government Railway Police (GRP) had arrested two men from Himachal Pradesh and recovered 34 kilograms of charas.