The Hindu : Karnataka News : Police investigating role of govt. staff in drugs racket

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Police investigating role of govt. staff in drugs racket

By Our Staff Correspondent

Bags of potash found stacked in a room during a raid on a drug company in Bidar.

BIDAR, JUNE 9. The Bidar police are investigating the seizure of Methylene Dioxy Ethyle Amphetamine drug by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence from a laboratory here, including the possible involvement of the employees of departments such as the drug control directorate and industries.

Sources in the Police Department said that there was clear evidence that the drug company in Kolar (K) industrial area in Bidar, from where the drug was seized, was working till the day of the raid, contrary to the claim of its owner.

The police suspected that N. Jagan Mohan Rao, who owned and ran the unit in Bidar, could be involved in the running of a tablet unit in Jeediguntla in Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Rao has been arrested.

"If they were operating for over a year now, how come it was not found out by the authorities concerned,'' a senior officer asked.

On a visit to the factory premises in Bidar, it was found that tonnes of coal were lying unused.

The machinery, including a large furnace and three small units producing steam, a host of other machines, was intact and a pungent chemical smell emanated from the premises. Power supply was not disrupted and some lights were still on. Some meters indicating pressure in the cylinders attached to the boilers were found working.

A locked room was stacked with bags filled with potash. The unit has, however, not been locked or sealed yet, according to the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, who raided it on June 5.

People in the neighbouring units said Mr. Rao bought the drug company after its owner failed to pay up the loans raised on it.

The officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence have claimed that the unit made paracetamol tablets by day and banned drugs by night. The district-level officials, however, claim ignorance of the events leading to the raid.

The Superintendent of Police, Amrit Pal, said he learnt about the incident from press reports. "The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has not yet contacted us. If they do, we will extend all cooperation,'' he said.

Similar opinions were expressed by the Deputy Commissioner, T.K. Anil Kumar, the Assistant Drug Controller, Shivakumar, and the Joint Director, District Industries Centre, Chandrashekar.

Mr. Kumar said Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Chandrashekar had been asked to submit a report on the unit and its background, in the light of the raid.

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