HYDERABAD: The Special Operations Team of Cyberabad police busted a drug racket and seized Alprazolam, a synthetic drug, weighing 140 kg worth Rs 8.50 crore at Petbasheerabad in the city on Monday. The police also arrested a pharma company owner Gudikadi Linga Goud, who holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry, his brother-in-law Maduri Ramakrishna Goud, deputed as a constable to the Armed Reserve Unit in Medak district, and another person in connection with the racket. The gang would manufacture the drug and supply it to toddy manufacturers across Telangana. It is usually mixed in toddy to make it more sedative.
DCP Balanagar PV Padmaja said along with the drug, two vehicles used for transportation and `50,000 cash was seized from the accused. The main accused, Linga Goud, was carrying out this illegal business for the past five years and Ramakrishna would help him supply the drug to their clients, Padmaja said.
Based on credible information, police conducted searches at Petbasheerabad late on Sunday evening and nabbed Linga Goud and a driver, Vinod. Based on their confessions, the police also nabbed Ramakrishna Goud.
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Linga Goud, of Medak district, knows how to prepare synthetic drugs thanks to his PhD. In addition, he also knew about how toddy would be made more potent by adding the tablets. Taking advantage of both his education background and his experience, he started preparing Alprazolam by procuring raw material from different pharma companies and processed the same in the pharma company of his friend Kiran at Vijayawada.
Linga Goud also owns a company named Goud Laboratories at Jeedimetla, from where he carried out this business. He took the help of his brother-in-law Ramakrishna, an AR police constable, to sell the drug in and around Hyderabad. Ramakrishna misused his official position to avoid checks by the the local police. The accused initially sold the drug at toddy shops, and later to specific contacts for huge amounts.