The State Police have seized 28,302 kg of drugs worth Rs 153.25 crore in 5001 cases registered under the NDPS Act 1985, in which 4481 accused have been arrested. This information was given in the state assembly on Tuesday in a written reply.

To control the trade and proliferation of drugs, separate sections of narcotics control have been set up at almost all the police stations. A Task Force has also been set up with 346 posts sanctioned by the state government in March this year, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said in this reply.

Replying to the question asked by Kashinath Date, Prashant Thakur and others, the CM said an awareness campaign was undertaken in the month of June through posters, banners, and street plays at schools, colleges, railway stations and prominent locations in cities.

Action against 37,149 persons has been taken by the Police between January to April this year for selling banned gutka and tobacco products at paan shops and other stalls. A penal amount worth Rs 44.40 lakh has been recovered in the cases, the CM has informed.

The Police have been alert in such cases. In a city like Ulhasnagar, drugs worth 77.60 lakh were confiscated from 183 accused during the current year. Action against matka and gambling has resulted in arrests of 326 persons involving the amount of Rs 6.60 lakh, the reply says.

Between January to May this year, 247 cases have been registered across the state in which e-cigarettes worth 4.33 crores have been confiscated. The e-cigarettes are banned under the Electronics Cigarettes Prevention Act 2019.

In the month of May, 11 cases were registered in the cities of Mumbai, Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Thane. 

Mumbai: A 34-year-old motorcycle rider was killed after being hit by the SUV allegedly driven by the son of BJP MLA Suresh Dhas in Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar district, police said on Tuesday.

No arrest has been made in connection with the incident which took place at Supa on Ahilyanagar-Pune Road at around 10:30 pm on Monday, said an official.

Sagar Dhas (26), son of Ashti MLA Suresh Dhas, was heading towards Pune from Ahilyanagar in an MG Gloster, he said.

Nitin Shelke, a resident of Parner, was crossing the Pune-Ahilyanagar road on his motorbike near Jategaon junction when the speeding SUV hit him, as per the complaint filed by the victim’s brother.

Sagar Dhas, who was with a friend, was allegedly driving the SUV, the police official said.

Shelke sustained serious injuries and fell unconscious after the accident. Some local persons took him to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead before admission.

An accidental death case was registered at Supa police station and further probe is underway, he said.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Samajwadi Party leader and MLA has demanded in the assembly that a flyover bridge should be started for heavy vehicles to curb fatal accidents in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar. Fatal accidents are happening every month in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar. Earlier there were high tension wires on the bridge built on GM Link Road, then the bridge was closed due to heavy vehicles. Later the wires were also removed and the flyover department has also allowed heavy vehicles to pass, however, heavy vehicles are still not being allowed to move. Today in the House, a demand was made to start the movement of heavy vehicles on this bridge. Abu Asim Azmi said that recently a tragic accident took place here in which three people died.