Hyderabad: After busting an illegal drug manufacturing unit at Vetukuri Labs in Bibi Nagar in August, where 27 kg of mephedrone and 56 kg of acetone were seized, EAGLE police have found that the organised inter-state gang was operating a similar illegal unit in Maregaon, in Maharashtra ’s Yavatmal district, about 150 km from Nagpur.
The accused had been using the premises since 2024, police said.
The gang sourced precursor chemicals from Vadodara in Gujarat and supplied them to illegal manufacturing units across Telangana and Maharashtra, with the help of individuals from Assam, Telangana and Maharashtra, according to police. The gang allegedly used these facilities to manufacture drugs, police said. Police said they were searching for him.
They were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The first breakthrough in the case, including a tip-off about Anand, came after EAGLE officials arrested Chetan Madhukar Meshram, a native of Assam and a key accused, during the August drug bust. During interrogation, police learnt that he frequently visited Nagpur. Following leads provided by Chetan, police traced the operation to Maregaon, where he and his associates had rented a poultry farm from a farmer and allegedly used it as a front for an illegal drug manufacturing unit. Police found that the farm owner, whose premises are now lying abandoned, was unaware of the unlawful activity. The role of Fadh Shaikh, who allegedly helped Chetan identify suitable locations for illegal manufacturing units and arrange the necessary logistics, is under investigation.
Based on a complaint filed by EAGLE sleuths, Maharashtra police registered a criminal case on Monday and arrested three persons — Saddam Hussain, Rakesh Verma and Jairaj Shetty — for their alleged roles in the Bibi Nagar and Maregaon cases.