AHMEDABAD: In a major drug bust, authorities have seized MD drugs and raw materials worth Rs 1,814 crore from a factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, according to Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi.
The high-stakes raid was part of a coordinated operation by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Delhi, Sanghavi announced on Sunday.
In a significant crackdown, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Delhi conducted a joint raid on a factory disguised as a manufacturing unit at Bagroda Industrial Estate in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
The factory, said to be the largest illegal operation busted by the Gujarat ATS to date, was reportedly producing 25 kg of drugs daily. The accused had constructed a state-of-the-art facility over six months for the illicit production. Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the operation.
According to police sources, Gujarat ATS had been monitoring the location for one to one and a half months based on intelligence. Once the information was verified, the ATS collaborated with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Delhi to launch a joint operation.
During the raid, authorities seized 907 kg of MD drugs in both solid and liquid forms from a rented shed. Additionally, 5,000 kg of raw materials and equipment used for drug production, including grinders, motors, glassware, and heaters, were also recovered from the site.
Police sources revealed that two individuals, Amit Chaturvedi (57), a resident of Bhopal, and Sanyal Prakash Bane (40), from Nashik, Maharashtra, were arrested during the raid. Investigations uncovered that Bane had previously been arrested in 2017 by Amboli Police in connection with a one-kilogram MD drug seizure and had served five years in jail.
After his release, Bane was approached by a friend of Amit Chaturvedi, and the duo devised a plan to manufacture and sell MD drugs. Seven months ago, they rented a shed in Bagroda Industrial Estate, where they spent the last three to four months accumulating raw materials and equipment.
The chemical production process had already begun, along with the distribution of the drugs. Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi posted on X “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 and materials used to manufacture MD, with a staggering total value of ₹1814 crores.”
The illegal MD drugs manufacturing factory's busting in Bhopal has exposed the state of working of the local industry department as well as the local police, particularly as the factory was rented out to the two arrested men by the original owner of the unit around 6-7 months back.
The duo in police and NCB custody now, after taking the factory on rent from the original owner (some AK Singh) six-seven months, had gathered raw material and equipment and started manufacturing MD followed by its sale some three-four months back.
“This shocking development has exposed the deep slumber of the industry department as well as the local police. Neither the industry department nor the police (including the narcotics wing) had even a sniff about the illegal MD factory functioning since the last many months," said opposition Congress’s chief spokesperson in the state Bhupendra Gupta.
He added that "at a time when the state government is working at attracting big industrial investments in the state through regional industry conclaves and mega summits in the state and outside, the concerned department also needs to religiously fulfil its other big responsibility of inspecting the existing or closed industrial units, particularly in designated industrial areas."
In a series of posts on social media platform X, Gupta questioned, “Mephedrine consignment, does the Industry Department investigate what work is done in its industrial areas? The MP Police, which verifies tenants, should explain how a convicted criminal sets up a factory? Who is this Amit Chaturvedi? Ministers should say something.”
According to the local deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Sanjay Agrawal, “The raiding teams had not informed us officially, but we came to know about the operation on our own. Many sheds in this industrial area are lying closed. We’ll write to the industry department to verify whether the units are engaged in industrial activity sanctioned to them or not.”
The busting of an illegal MD drugs unit in Bhopal, revived the memories of 2007, when an illegal arms factory (reportedly functioning as the arms research and development center) for the Maoists was busted in Satnami Nagar (possibly part of Govindpura Industrial Area) in Bhopal.
(With inputs from ENS)