Seven held in Pune district mephedrone racket; three country-made pistols seized

Lonikand police have arrested seven people on suspicion of running a mephedrone supply network in Pune district. Police recovered a total of 128.3 grams of mephedrone, three country-made pistols and five live cartridges. Mephedrone is a banned narcotic.

The case began near Katkewadi Phata, where a man was taken into custody on the allegation that he was carrying drugs and a weapon. Constables Shubham Chinke and Sudhir Shivle had received a tip-off during patrolling, which told the team where the drug deal was expected to take place.

Acting on the information, a team led by Police Inspector Sunita Rokde laid a trap. It detained Prateek alias Sonya Dattatraya Hole, 35, a resident of Lonikand. A search allegedly turned up 19.4 grams of mephedrone, a country-made pistol and two live cartridges.

According to police, questioning of Hole led to two more suspects: Vishal Shivaji Makar, 26, and Somnath Sanjay Gore, 24, both residents of Shirur. In further action against the two, two more country-made pistols and three live cartridges were seized.

As the investigation progressed, police reached four more alleged members of the network. They include Vishal alias Dada Ramdas Kolte, 33, of Bakori, and Rajuram Umedram Choudhary, 34, of Ranjangaon in Shirur taluka. The other two are Vaibhav Balu Khedkar, 28, and Shivam Prashant Dedge, 21, both residents of Shirur. Mephedrone was recovered from these four as well.

Lonikand police are now investigating the alleged supply chain and are also examining the role each of the arrested men played. Police said the action is part of an intensified campaign against the sale, storage and distribution of narcotics in the Pune area.