Mumbai Police on Saturday said that it had recovered Rs 3.46 crore cash from a house in Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district of Maharashtra that was allegedly kept by the main accused in a mephedrone drugs bust case in Sangli district of Maharashtra, reported the PTI.
A mephedrone manufacturing unit was busted in Sangli on Monday and contraband worth Rs 252 crore was seized, leading to the arrest of 10 persons, he said.
“During questioning, main accused Pravin Shinde (34) said he had hidden Rs 3.46 crore cash in a painter`s house in Bhiwandi. A Crime Branch team recovered several bags full of currency,” the official said, according to the PTI.
“The painter has told us he kept the bag on the instructions of Pravin Shinde, who had engaged him to paint his house in Thane`s Kasarvadavali area. The money is proceeds from mephedrone deals,” he added, as per the PTI.
The police is also likely to seize the 12 acre farm plot Pravin Shinde bought in Irali village in Kavthe Mahankal in Sangli and on which he had set up the mephedrone manufacturing facility, the official informed.
Earlier, the Mumbai Police had unearthed a drug manufacturing unit in Maharashtra`s Sangli district and seized more than 100 kg of mephedrone, an official had said on Tuesday, reported news agency PTI.
Based on specific inputs, crime branch sleuths conducted a raid and discovered the drug manufacturing unit at Irali village on Sunday evening, he said, reported PTI.
The unit was situated in a farm, from where the police seized more than 100 kg of mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant drug, the official said.
Police also recovered raw materials used in manufacturing drugs, he said.
Earlier, a Pune Police team had seized 150 kg of mephedrone by raiding three locations in Kupwad in Sangli District and arrested three persons.
Last month, Pune Police had said that it has seized a staggering 600 kilograms of illicit drugs, estimated to be worth approximately Rs 1,100 crore and arrested three persons.
“Unprecedented Action by Pune Police. In the biggest ever haul yet, 600 kg drugs worth approximately Rs. 1100 crores seized,” Commissioner of Police Pune City posted on X.
(with PTI inputs)