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Drug Racket
As many as 859 people have been arrested for drug-related offences in Maharashtra's Thane district from January 1 till November 28 this year and 723 cases registered in this connection, officials said on Thursday. Drugs and other items worth Rs 4.01 crore were seized from drug-peddlers during this period, they said. These figures were provided by authorities during a recent meeting of the district-level anti-drug coordination committee presided over by Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Punjabrao Ugale and attended by senior officials of various departments. "A total of 723 offences related to drugs were registered in Thane district between January 1 and November 28. As many as 859 people were arrested in these cases, and drugs and goods worth Rs 4,01,94,718 were seized from drug-peddlers," inspector Sanjay Shinde from the Thane police's anti-narcotics cell said. During the meeting, Ugale directed the officials to intensify inspection of closed chemical units and to ensure t
Leaders from the Opposition parties staged a protest against the Maharashtra government over the drug menace in the state, and alleged that some ministers were shielding drug racketeer Lalit Patil. Leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar faction and the Congress, gathered on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan here and raised slogans against the government. Leader of opposition in the legislative assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of opposition in the council Ambadas Danve, MLC Satej Patil and several other legislators took part in the protest. "The youth of Maharashtra is getting addicted to drugs, and the state is on the verge of becoming 'Udta Maharashtra' like 'Udta Punjab'," said Wadettiwar, referring to the 2016 Bollywood film about a drug crisis in the northern state. Talking to reporters, the Congress leader alleged that some ministers were shielding drug racketeer Lalit Patil and demanded action against
Himachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri on Saturday said a mass movement will be launched in the state against the drug menace. Agnihotri said an 8-km long walk against the drug menace will be flagged off by Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla from Haroli to Kangar in the Haroli Assembly constituency on June 27. He also called upon the political leaders not to interfere with cases related to drug smuggling and ensure that no political pressure is put on authorities to save the chitta' smugglers. Talking to the media persons here, he said that being a border district, Una is vulnerable to drug smuggling and therefore the walk is significant. The theme of the program is Walk for Life - an initiative against drug addiction, the deputy chief minister informed. Thousands of students, various institutions and people from different sections of society will be a part of this walk, he said. Several events like slogan writing, painting competitions and others will be organised befo
Noted Telugu film director Puri Jagannadh, on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here after being summoned in connection with a money laundering probe linked to a drugs case. Jagannadh, the "Pokiri" fame director, also a screen writer and producer, is among the over 10 Tollywood (Telugu film industry) personalities, who were earlier summoned by the ED. A drug racket was busted in July 2017 and several cases related to drug trafficking were registered and over 20 people arrested including a US citizen, who was a former aerospace engineer and had worked with the NASA. Names of some Tollywood personalities surfaced during the interrogation of people arrested in connection with the drug racket. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana's Prohibition and Excise department, as part of its investigation had also probed the alleged drug links with Tollywood, and questioned 11 people from the Telugu film industry including actors and had also collected hair and n