Lucknow: An illegal heroin manufacturing facility operating from a residential locality in Jankipuram was busted by Delhi Police , exposing what investigators described as an interstate narcotics network linking Uttar Pradesh with Delhi-NCR.
Four people have been arrested and 7.076 kg of heroin, estimated to be worth about ₹50 crore in the international market, has been seized. The largest recovery was made during a raid on Oct 4 at an alleged manufacturing unit in Sita Colony, Jankipuram. Police said they seized 6.275 kg of freshly manufactured heroin from the premises, along with chemicals, equipment and materials suspected to have been used in production. The case first developed on Sept 16 when Laxman Hooda (58), a resident of Rohtak in Haryana, was intercepted in Delhi’s Begumpur area, according to police. Police claimed 300 grams of heroin and ₹3 lakh in cash were recovered from him. The next day, Anil alias Bhola (51), a resident of Raghubir Nagar in Delhi, was arrested and 501 grams of heroin was allegedly recovered from his Mahindra XUV-700. Bablu (35), a resident of Bareilly, was arrested during the Oct 4 raid at the Jankipuram site. Items seized from the alleged unit included 2.504 kg of sodium, 787 grams of acetic anhydride, a gas cylinder, a mixer grinder, utensils, a tub, polythene, an electronic weighing machine and other articles police said were used for manufacturing heroin.
Officials said the investigation began with a tip-off about narcotics movement in Delhi and gradually led the team to the suspected facility in the Uttar Pradesh capital. Investigators said subsequent leads pointed to Lucknow as the suspected source. The operation was carried out by the Special Staff of Delhi Police’s Rohini district.