By: Akanksha
The Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), in association with the local police, busted an illegal drug manufacturing unit using mephedrone (MD) in Mithoda village under Siwana police station limits in Rajasthan’s Baltora district on Saturday. According to the police, the accused were allegedly manufacturing and supplying the drug.
Police arrested three accused, including a government doctor, and recovered 3.764 kg of raw MD, chemicals and equipment used to manufacture the drugs, ₹ 3.41 lakh in cash, and a Kia Seltos car.
Investigators suspect that the accused sought to use the government doctor's professional connections to facilitate the alleged distribution of MD in Balotra, Jalore, Siwana and nearby areas. Police spotted the three accused men as prime accused Suresh Kumar Bishnoi (27), a local resident of Mithoda; a government doctor, Mukesh Bishnoi (29), who works at a Jalore District Hospital and resides in Modran in Jalore; and Utkarsh Bishnoi (19), a resident of Madron Village.
ANTF Inspector General Vikas Kumar said that the case was part of the ANTF’s relentless campaign against drug traffickers in the state. He said, “The ANTF had received information that Suresh Kumar Bishnoi, a resident of Mithoda, was running a factory for manufacturing MD drugs near his house. Based on this, the ANTF, in coordination with the police, raided Suresh’s house. In the process, three young men were seen sitting in a thatched shelter outside the house, and the police arrested them,” the Inspector General said.
The ANTF team, in coordination with the local police, went to the Siwana police station area after verifying the information about the presence of an illegal MD manufacturing setup, Deputy Inspector General of Police Abhijeet Singh said.
The house and the surrounding area were searched, and raw MD, chemical, and equipment used to manufacture and dry the said drug were recovered. Three accused were arrested, and the materials were seized.
3.764 kg of raw MD, including the packing, and two packets of ‘2-bromo-4-methapelarifin’ powder, which were allegedly used in manufacturing the drug, weighing 888 grams including the plastic bags, were recovered. Police also recovered 800 grams of methylene dichloride (MDC) and 514 grams of a chemical mentioned in the seizure details as isopropyl acid.
On the other hand, an electric churning machine, induction stove, a large glass jar thermometer, and a piece of cloth with a substance that was allegedly used to manufacture MD were also recovered from the spot.
Cash worth ₹ 3,41,700, which was allegedly used for buying and selling the MD, was also recovered from Dr. Mukesh Bishnoi’s car. Another seizure includes a Kia Seltos with registration number RJ-19-CT-10351 that was recovered from the accused.
According to the ANTF Deputy Inspector General Abhijeet Singh and Inspector General Vikas Kumar, the investigation revealed that Suresh Kumar is a graduate who appeared for numerous government job examinations, such as the patwari, village development officer (gram sevak), Rajasthan Police constable, forest guard, and police sub-inspector exams, but did not manage to get a government job.
In 2022, Suresh went to Bengaluru and worked as a medical representative with his friend in the pharmaceutical supply and distribution business for a while. After working there for approximately two years and finding the job unlucrative, he returned to his village last year.
Suresh met the smugglers and the people dealing in illicit drugs once he returned to the village in 2024 and initially got involved in buying, selling, and supplying MD drugs in the surrounding areas. Attracted by the promise of greater profit, he decided to move to manufacturing the drug.
The investigators said that the accused learned the process of manufacturing MD by watching tutorial videos on YouTube and other social media platforms and set up a manufacturing unit in his house in Mithoda. Further, he used his contacts and network from the medicine supply business to get the chemicals, equipment, and other necessities.
Also Read: Mumbai: Police Seized Mephedrone Worth Rs. 245 Crore in Maharashtra’s Sangli District
The accused Suresh Kumar, used to call his contacts, Dr. Mukesh Bishnoi and Utarkash Bishnoi, to his house to sell the prepared consignment of MD.
The investigators suspected that the accused used the doctor’s connections to sell the drug in Balotra, Jalore, Siwana, and the surrounding areas. As Dr. Mukesh was a government doctor, they believed that using his contacts and profession would help them transport the drugs in the area without any suspicion.
The IG said that during the operation, the two other accused also came in a car to Suresh’s house to buy a consignment of MD drugs. During the inquiry, Suresh told the police details about supplying MD to his contacts and about other people involved in drug trafficking.
The three accused are currently under interrogation, and the investigation is underway to identify and apprehend other smugglers and others involved in the network, as well as to identify the source of the chemicals.
(Rh/APC/MSM)
