Drug racket accused claims mafia threat

The Thane police, which is investigating the multi-crore drug racket in which former actor Mamta Kulkarni is an accused, has claimed that one of the accused in Thane jail has been warned by the drug mafia not to turn approver in the case. The police made this claim while opposing the bail pleas of some accused arrested in the multi-crore drug racket involving Avon Lifesciences.

Special public prosecutor, Shishir Hiray, on Wednesday told the court of special judge and district judge, H.M. Patwardhan that Punit Shringi, a former senior official of Avon Lifesciences, who was till recently lodged in Thane jail and is presently in custody of Gujarat ATS, informed the police and prosecution about the threat to his life, if he recorded his statement before the magistrate.

The four accused in the drug case – Shringi, Manoj Jain, Rajendra Dimri and Babasaheb Dhote – had applied for bail before the court on various grounds. Their counsels Ayaz Khan and Nana Mothe had earlier said that their clients deserved bail as there was no ground to detain them anymore.

However, advocate Hiray opposed the bail plea citing various case laws to justify his contention. He informed the court that several witnesses, in their statements, had revealed startling facts about the entire operation in the Solapur factory of Avon Lifesciences, which was against regulations. FDA authorities had conducted several inspections but were never shown the nearly 12 tonne ephedrine kept in a shed on the premises. There were a couple of thefts as well but Jain advised staff against approaching the police, fearing that if cops came to the factory, they would unearth the huge stock stored in the shed. In his submission, advocate Hiray also mentioned the trail of “hawala” and “angadia” transactions in connection with the drug case.

The police was trying to record Shringi’s statement under CrPC section 164, which was crucial to the investigation in the case. Recently, Kulkarni was named as prime accused in the multi-crore drug racket linked to drug baron Vicky Goswami. The police has already initiated the process of extradition of Kulkarni and Goswami, who are said to be in a relationship and currently based in Kenya. Shringi is a key link in the drug cartel, as the operation and work of processing raw ephedrine and its transportation was allegedly supervised by him. In all, there are 17 accused in the case, of whom 10 were arrested and are now in judicial custody while the remaining seven are still at large.