Navi Mumbai, May 21: In a major crackdown against narcotics trafficking under the ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat 2028’ campaign, the Navi Mumbai Police Crime Branch arrested three Nigerian nationals during a combing operation in Vashi’s Juhugaon area and seized high-grade cocaine worth Rs 1.26 crore.

The Anti-Narcotics Cell conducted simultaneous raids at four locations in Juhugaon after receiving specific information that a group of Nigerian nationals was stockpiling narcotics for distribution.

During the operation, police raided a house at Hariyali Nivas (House No. 522/3) and apprehended the main accused, identified as Oliver Okechukwu Ugwu (47).

“During the search, we recovered two separate packets containing cocaine-like white powder weighing 146.8 grams and 105.7 grams respectively, collectively valued at Rs 1.26 crore. The total quantity of the seized contraband was 252.5 grams,” police said.

Based on Ugwu’s interrogation, police identified and arrested two more alleged members of the drug racket — Maduyabuki Cosmos Igweoma (49) and Enosent Dada Lavians (35) — from Kopri village.

All three accused were produced before a court, which remanded them to police custody till May 22.

Apart from the cocaine, police also seized 12 expensive mobile phones of different brands and cash allegedly used in the operation.

Police said two more accused, identified as Simian Ekene and Emmanuel Onoyonam, are wanted in the case and efforts are underway to trace them.

Officials are now probing the wider network of the international drug syndicate and investigating who the accused intended to supply the narcotics to in Navi Mumbai.

The investigation is being led by Senior Police Inspector Sandeep Nigde, in-charge of the Anti-Narcotics Cell.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of Assistant Commissioner of Police Dharmapal Bansode by a team comprising Senior Police Inspector Prithviraj Ghorpade, Police Inspector Sandeep Nigde, Assistant Police Inspectors Nilesh Dhumal, Devendra Ovhal, Tushar Mane, Yogesh Deshmukh and other officers.

During the demolition operation on railway land in Mumbai’s Bandra area, the situation became tense when a mosque located here was targeted. Muslims protested against the demolition of the mosque and at the same time, the police used light baton charge to disperse the crowd. Local Muslims accused the police of pelting stones at them. A video related to this has also gone viral on social media. An investigation is also underway. So far, the police have arrested 10 accused in the stone-pelting case and a case of attempted murder and rioting has been registered against them.

Tensions flared during the demolition operation in Mumbai’s Bandra East area, when the demolition operation allegedly turned violent, resulting in stone-pelting and clashes with police personnel. Following the incident, the Nirmal Nagar police registered an FIR against 10 identified accused and others under various sections of the BNS and other laws. According to the FIR, the incident took place on May 20 during an operation to remove illegal structures in the Garib Nagar area near Bandra East railway station. The operation was carried out following court orders and instructions regarding the scheduled demolition schedule. The authorities deployed Mumbai Police, Railway Protection Force (RPF), Home Guards and other personnel during the operation. According to the complaint, when the officials were carrying out the demolition operation, a crowd of about 100 to 150 people gathered at the spot and started protesting. The police authorities allegedly made repeated announcements to the people to disperse peacefully. However, the crowd is said to have become agitated and tried to disrupt the operation. The FIR further claims that some people in the crowd started shouting slogans and are said to have tried to prevent the demolition work by creating unrest. During the chaos, stones and other objects were said to have been hurled at the police and officials present at the spot, which increased tension in the area. Later, the police used mild force to control the situation and detained several people. It is said that several police officials were injured in the incident. The complaint specifically mentions the injuries of police officials and security personnel deployed during the operation. Later, the injured officials were given medical assistance. The police have named 10 accused in the FIR and have framed various charges related to illegal assembly, rioting, preventing government servants from doing their duty, damaging government property and assaulting government servants. The matter is under investigation. Authorities are also examining CCTV footage and other evidence to identify more people allegedly involved in the violence. Security has been increased in the area to ensure that there is no disruption of law and order in the future and no untoward incident occurs. After the stone-pelting incident, an attempt has started on social media to give it a Hindu-Muslim and religious color, which the police are monitoring.

New Delhi, May 21: There is no shortage of petrol, diesel or LPG in the country and petrol pumps that are not giving fuel or giving fuel in reduced quantities are being pulled up, according to senior government officials on Thursday.

The government is receiving feedback about petrol pumps across India and full supply of fuels is being maintained to all retail outlets. There has also been no reduction in oil imports coming from Russia in order to ensure adequate crude supplies to the refineries of oil marketing companies, the officials pointed out.

There has been an increase in sales at some pumps because of the higher demand for diesel due to the harvesting season. There has also been a shift in customers from private oil marketing companies, who have started charging higher prices, to retail filling stations belonging to public sector oil companies.

Besides, institutional or commercial sales, which are priced around Rs 20 higher as per actual international price, have also shifted to petrol pumps, they added.

The officials also pointed out that India’s increase of Rs 3.91 per litre in the prices of petrol and diesel announced this week, works out to 4.4 per cent, which is the smallest hike of any major economy outside the directly subsidising Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, according to figures compiled by GlobalPetrolPrices.com.

An IndianOil official pointed out that the Rs 3.91 increase, which restores only part of the rise of cost in crude, has been undertaken after 76 days of complete absorption of costs by the public sector oil companies. In sharp contrast, the rest of the world has been adjusting price for the rise in crude costs through increases ranging from 10 to 90 per cent in the retail prices of the two fuels.

The pass-through has been steepest in liberalised emerging markets directly exposed to West Asian supply and freight, where governments do not absorb volatility. The Pakistani consumer is paying about 55 per cent more for petrol today than three months ago, the Malaysian about 56 per cent more, and the Emirati consumers about 52 per cent higher prices, the figures show.

In the advanced economies, the increases are smaller in percentage terms but still substantial. American petrol prices, which respond quickly to crude because federal and state excise loadings are modest, have risen by close to 45 per cent and diesel by 48 per cent.

In Europe, where excise duties dampen the swing, the United Kingdom is up about 19 per cent on petrol and 34 per cent on diesel, Germany about 14 per cent on petrol and 20 per cent on diesel, France about 21 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.

In the case of Japan, South Korea and Singapore, the hike in petrol prices has been held below 20 per cent and the price of diesel has risen considerably faster, with Singapore registering a 65 per cent jump in the price of diesel.