MADURAI: Tamil Nadu police recently busted an inter-state network engaged in illegal procurement and sale of painkiller tablets (Tapentadol) with the arrest of two kingpins, Inspector General of Police (south zone) Vijayendra Bidari said on Friday.
Bidari, in a press release, identified the kingpins as K Mahender Singh Bisht (48) of Ambala Cantonment in Haryana and R Sunil Kumar (43) of Panthalap in Jammu and Kashmir.
The gang used India Post and private courier services to distribute the tablets to 19 states, including Tamil Nadu, and union territories. They used fictitious identities and false addresses to dispatch the consignments. A special police team arrested Mahender and Sunil Kumar in Ambala on November 2.
“Investigation of customer accounts at Ambala revealed that 588 suspect parcels (of which 11 appear to have been destined to Tamil Nadu) had been booked over the last one year destined to19 States and Union Territories indicating a much wider distribution network.
The investigation led the police to identify Mahender as a key coordinator in the dispatch of these consignments and established his links with Sunil Kumar, who was facilitating the supply of the tablets to Tamil Nadu,” Bidari said.
Police in Madurai, Dindigul and Theni districts have booked seven cases, and arrested 18 suspects so far. The operation was initiated in July after they got intelligence inputs. As part of the operation, India Post authorities and courier agencies were sensitised and directed to help identify suspicious consignments originating from outside Tamil Nadu.
This enabled the interception of multiple consignments and registration of seven cases, leading to the seizure of 4,400 narcotic tablets in parcels and arrest of eighteen suspects.
The probe was intensified after the seizure of a suspicious postal parcel at Kandamanur in Theni on August 18. Subsequent seizures at Thenkarai and other locations in Dindigul and Madurai revealed a common pattern, with the consignments consistently traced to Ambala in Haryana.
“The investigation is now expanded to the financial trail, bank accounts and wider communication network of the accused to identify their associates, beneficiaries and the full extent of the illegal trade. Inputs are being shared with other States for follow up action,” Bidari further said.
