Vasai: In a shocking incident that has tarnished the image of the ‘Khaki’ uniform and brought embarrassment to the Maharashtra Police force, three police personnel have been caught red-handed and arrested by the Vasai Police for helping a murder accused escape from the Vasai Court premises. Driven by greed, the cops directly utilized digital payment methods to accept the bribe.

The arrested police personnel have been identified as Police Constable Eknath Talpade, Prashant Rathod, and Wasim Sheikh.

The details emerging from the police investigation are startling. The accused policemen had allegedly accepted a bribe of ₹45,000 from the criminal and his family members to facilitate the escape. Instead of taking cash, the bribe was transferred digitally via Google Pay (GPay) in multiple installments of ₹5,000 each.

Upon bringing the accused near the court’s prison van, the corrupt policemen deliberately loosened the handcuffs of the accused, Vinod Soni. Seizing the opportunity, Soni made an excuse to relieve himself, and the police gave him a clear window to flee. The police have also arrested the fugitive’s wife, Sakshi Soni, and son, Atul Soni, for actively conspiring and assisting in the escape.

The incident has sparked widespread outrage within the police department. The anger stems from the fact that the Crime Branch Unit 3 team had recently cracked a highly complex, 16-year-old murder case and arrested Vinod Soni from Madhya Pradesh after an intensive investigation, only for local security personnel to let him go for monetary gain.

Mumbai: Skill development minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha will head a high-level committee to create awareness against drugs in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

The six-member committee will include the Commissioner of Police, collectors of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban, and two non-official members.

The formation of the panel comes in the backdrop of the Centre’s strict stance against drug menace. The committee will coordinate with various departments to prevent the cultivation of narcotic plants as well as the production, trade, transport, sale and consumption of drugs. It will also undertake awareness campaigns against drug abuse.

Meanwhile, thwarting a major drug smuggling bid connected to interstate racket, the NCB seized 702 kg of ganja worth ₹3 crore and arrested a duo, agency sources said on Friday.

Acting on specific inputs on Thursday, an NCB Mumbai team intercepted a truck in Gondia and its search led to the contraband’s recovery. Accused duo, Prakash MD & Padamlal NM, revealed that the drug was sourced from Odisha. “It also came to light that the consignment was meant for drug syndicates based in Nagpur, Gondia, Pune and Mumbai. It was noted that these syndicates collaborated for the transportation in single bulk consignment rather than separate shipments,” said an NCB official.

In a separate case being probed by the Kalyan police, a notorious criminal, who was externed from Mumbai and Thane, has been arrested in connection with the recent seizure of 9.7 kg of heroin worth ₹34.18 crore.

The police said that he is the kingpin of an interstate drug syndicate. Amjad Pathan, 47, has as many as 20 criminal cases, including murder, against him. After being externed from Mumbai and Thane, he allegedly shifted his narcotics base to Nashik.

Thane: A special court under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Thane has convicted five accused and acquitted five others in a high-profile drug trafficking case investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), involving the seizure of large quantities of mephedrone (MD), ephedrine, methamphetamine, cash worth more than Rs 2.18 crore, firearms and multiple vehicles.

The Narcotics Control Bureau in 2021 had arrested members of an alleged drug syndicate run by Chinku Pathan alias Parvez Khan, who is said to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang and grandson of late underworld don Karim Lala.

The court convicted accused Parvez Naserullah Khan alias Chinku Pathan, Mohammad Salman Khan and Vikrant Jayantilal Jain alias Vicky Jain and sentenced each of them to five years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50,000 each.

The court further convicted Mohammad Arif Bhujwala and sentenced him to 15 years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 2 lakh, with an additional one year’s imprisonment in default of payment of fine.

Meanwhile, accused Haris Faizanullah Khan was convicted and sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000, with a further three months’ imprisonment in default of payment of fine.

The court convicted Parvez Naserullah Khan alias Chinku Pathan, Mohammad Salman Khan, Vikrant Jayantilal Jain alias Vicky Jain, Mohammad Arif Bhujwala and Haris Faizanullah Khan, while acquitting Rahul Kumar Verma, Zakir Hussain Fazal Huk Shaikh, Md. Aun Javed Haider Sayed, Mohammad Faaran Khan and Md. Zaman Hidaytullah Khan due to lack of sufficient evidence. One accused, Hussain Bilal Telwala, remains absconding.

“Thus, considering the facts and circumstances of the case and evidence on record and the judgments cited by both sides, I am of the opinion that the fact that Parvez Naserullah Khan alias Chinku Pathan was found in conscious possession of 3 grams of heroin is not proved. But possession of MD is proved from the evidence, though whether the weight was actually 52.8 grams or not is doubtful because though the sample sent to him was of 5 grams, he found it to be 3.4490 grams. Thus, I am of the view that the prosecution has proved that Chinku Pathan was found in possession of more than small, but less than commercial quantity of MD,” the court observed in its order.

According to the prosecution, the Narcotics Control Bureau received specific intelligence inputs on January 20, 2021, regarding alleged drug trafficking activities of accused Parvez Khan from his residence at Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai.

During the raid, officers allegedly recovered 2.9 grams of heroin, 52.8 grams of mephedrone, a pistol with five live cartridges, weighing machines, packaging materials, cash and jewellery allegedly purchased from drug proceeds.

The investigation later expanded to multiple locations in Mumbai and Bhiwandi. At premises linked to accused Mohammad Arif Bhujwala in Mumbai’s Noor Manzil building, the NCB allegedly seized more than 5.3 kg of mephedrone, more than 6.1 kg of ephedrine, 990 grams of methamphetamine and cash amounting to Rs 2.18 crore.

The prosecution further alleged that accused Mohammad Salman Khan was involved in selling MD to prospective customers, while Vikrant Jain was allegedly financing the illegal narcotics trade.

The court recorded that the prosecution examined 23 witnesses, including NCB officials, chemical analysts, panch witnesses, bank officials and forensic experts.

The judgment also notes that forensic examination reports confirmed the presence of mephedrone, clonazepam and other narcotic substances in several seized samples.