In one of the biggest drug hauls in Karnataka, the Mumbai police Sunday raided a garage in Mysuru to seize 187.97 kg of Mephedrone worth Rs 381 crore, and arrested four people.
The Mumbai police informed that they came to know that Mephedrone was being manufactured in Mysuru while interrogating one alleged drug peddler, Salim Imtiyaz Shaikh alias Salim Langda, in the Maharashtra capital.
They further said that the garage, which was located on the service road of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Mysuru, was raided with the help of the Mysuru police.
However, a Mysuru police source said the fact that the Mumbai police came to know about the garage first has caused huge embarrassment to top police officers in Mysuru.
“The garage was taken on rent by an individual for Rs 20,000 per month. However, half of the portion was being used to manufacture Mephedrone… Though there are no documents, it is believed that the space was unofficially sublet for more than Rs 5 lakh,” the source added.
Meanwhile, soon after the raid on Sunday, Mysuru Police Commissioner Seema Latkar ordered the suspension of Narasimharaja police station Inspector Lakshmikant Talwar, pending a departmental inquiry. City Crime Branch (CCB) Inspector Shabbir Hussain was given the additional charge of Narasimharaja police station. But Talwar’s suspension was revoked a day later.
On Sunday night, Latkar and other senior police officers also conducted multiple raids at the houses of those who were previously involved in drug peddling in Mysuru.
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On Monday, Karnataka Opposition leader R Ashoka attacked the government over the drug haul episode. He questioned what the home department was doing when an illegal drug factory was being operated in Mysuru.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said he has given clear instructions to the police to initiate action. “If jurisdictional police are not aware of such activities and some other agency or state police carry out raids and make arrests, it means there are lapses. I have asked the police to take drug-related issues seriously,” he added.
Sources said the drug seizure by the Mumbai police has caused added embarrassment to the state government on account of Mysuru being the home district of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.