Mumbai: The Mumbai police have arrested Vijay Katke, a 43-year-old MSc Chemistry graduate and chemical engineer, for making the drug mephedrone in a chemical factory in Boisar where he worked, as reported by Hindustan Times. On a weekend when no workers were present, Katke tried making mephedrone and succeeded. After that, he started producing the drug regularly on weekends.
The police found out about this after arresting Farhan Khan from Jogeshwari, who was caught with 71 grams. Khan told the police that a cab driver named Pratik Jadhav delivered the drugs to him. When questioned, Jadhav said he got the drugs from Katke and shared the address of the factory.
The operation was carried out on June 7 around 11:45 PM in the jurisdiction of the MIDC Police Station. During routine patrolling, police stopped a red Skoda car that was speeding from the Pump House subway toward Kanosha Junction. The driver and the Jogeshwari East resident Farhan Gulzar Khan (36) were detained and questioned.
During the search, police found 71 grams of mephedrone, Rs 2.80 lakh in cash, and the Skoda car, which is worth Rs 8 lakh. It was also revealed that Farhan has 13 previous criminal cases registered against him in different police stations across Mumbai.
During further interrogation, the driver Pratik Jadhav, 24, a resident of Palghar, who supplied mephedrone to Farhan. Acting on a tip-off, police conducted a raid in Palghar and arrested Pratik. They recovered 215 grams of mephedrone (worth Rs 8.60 lakh) and a Maruti Swift Dzire car valued at Rs 4.60 lakh from him.
Following this information, police from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and Palghar raided the factory, seized mephedrone worth Rs 11.2 lakh, and arrested Katke. All three accused, Katke, Khan, and Jadhav, were taken to court and sent to police custody. A case has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
