Mumbai: The name of a Shiv Sena leader has cropped up after the Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch busted a major drugs racket in Satara on Saturday.
Authorities raided a shed near a bungalow in the Sawari village of Satara and seized nearly 10 kg MDMA and about 35 kg chemicals used to manufacture the drugs. The haul was worth nearly Rs 115 crore.
Three persons, including a local, were taken into custody and the shed destroyed. Those engaged to make the MDMA there were apparently from West Bengal.
The food to these workers was allegedly supplied by a restaurant named Tejas Hotel, owned by a Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) leader from
Thane, as reported by NDTV. However, the police have not indicated any direct link between the restaurant management and the drug manufacturing operations.
However, the matter has kicked up a political storm with the Maharashtra Assembly being in session.
State Congress President Harshwardhan Sapkal took to social media and demanded answers from the home department. He questioned whether the property (where the drugs were manufactured) was linked to individuals close to deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and whether other illegal activities were also being carried out at the site.
The government has not reacted to this as yet.
The police, meanwhile, have said that the bust was possible due to the arrest of some drug peddlers from Thane and Pune.
“Those arrested from Pune claimed that they were involved in manufacturing these synthetic drugs at a cowshed in Satara. That is how we got to know of the location. Further investigation is on to track down the kingpins behind the racket,” a senior police official said.