റോസ് വാട്ടർ നിർമ്മാണത്തിന്റെ മറവിൽ വൻ മയക്കുമരുന്ന് വേട്ട: ഉത്തർപ്രദേശിൽ പിടികൂടിയത് 200 കോടിയുടെ മെഫെഡ്രോൺ

A month after the 'rose water unit' came up in Rampura village, a DRI-ATS raid uncovered a mephedrone manufacturing lab and drugs and chemicals worth over Rs 200 crore.

In the early hours of Thursday, residents of Rampura in Bundelkhand's Jalaun district were roused from their sleep by the sound of vehicles passing through the otherwise quiet village.

Curious about the unusual movement, a few villagers followed the convoy. They watched as the vehicles pulled up outside a rose water manufacturing unit. Several people dressed in civilian clothes, some in black, stepped out and entered the premises. A local police team arrived sometime later.

It was only later that villagers learnt what was allegedly happening inside: men were allegedly manufacturing mephedrone, with the rose water business serving as a front to conceal the operation.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), in a joint operation with the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), raided the premises and seized 1,102.88 kg of mephedrone and precursor chemicals, valued at over Rs 200 crore on the international market.

Officials said this was the biggest drug haul in recent months.

Two men, Hemendra Kushwaha, 27, and Santosh, 37, who were allegedly involved in making the drug, were arrested. The team searched their homes, recovering additional quantities of mephedrone and precursor chemicals.

DRI officials said the plot owner, a local resident named Shailendra Singh Pal, 25, is on the run.

Mephedrone, also known as Meow Meow or White Magic, is a synthetically manufactured stimulant of the amphetamine and cathinone category. Till early 2010s, the drug was not included in the list of contrabands under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. But after multiple seizures of large quantities of the drug and rising instances of its consumption as a narcotic in large cities, authorities included it in the list in 2015.

A factory behind closed gates

Rampura, with a population of around 900, is nearly 10 km from the district headquarters and falls under the Dakor police station, around 8 km away. The unit was on the outskirts of the village, fenced off and fitted with a large gate. The fencing was covered with green fabric, keeping the activities inside out of public view.

According to village pradhan Omkar Pal, the factory had come up just over a month ago on a one-and-a-half-bigha plot owned by a Shailendra. "He claimed he had invested money in the business after taking a bank loan, projecting it as an established and profitable venture," Pal said.

Local resident Shivam Rajput claimed that once the factory became operational, vehicles, mostly cars, and people from outside the village began arriving there regularly. "Only three people, including the two men who have now been arrested, were allowed inside. No other villager had access to the premises," he claimed.

Pal said he had visited the factory once in connection with some work but was not allowed inside. "They had installed a heavy-duty generator to meet the unit's electricity requirements. The people present there told me that a gulab jal manufacturing unit was being set up and that its products would be supplied to different districts and states. A brand-new car was also parked inside the premises," he claimed.

It was only after the raid that Pal got to see the premises from inside. "The manufacturing unit was inside a tin shed, occupying around 450 square feet. Three doors separated it from the outside, and several large containers were kept inside," the pradhan said.

Police said Hemendra is from Hamirpur district, while Santosh hails from Mumbai. Both had been living in Jalaun in rented accommodation.

"Neither Hemendra nor Santosh had any known association with the villagers. We are surprised how Shailendra, who is unmarried and has lost both his parents recently, came into contact with them," Pal said.

When contacted, Circle Officer Rajiv Kumar Sharma said the three men had no criminal record in Jalaun district. He added that the police had not received any complaints from villagers about suspicious activities in the area.

Probe into wider drug network

The DRI had received intelligence about the unit within days of it being set up in the remote village, an official said.

Acting on a tip-off that the unit was manufacturing large quantities of mephedrone (MD), the official said, the agency deployed a team of around 40 personnel to gather details and discreetly verify the information on the ground. The team had been working on the operation for the past two weeks, the official said.

The DRI official also said the two arrested men are merely the "cooks" -- the term used for those who manufacture the substance -- and are not directly exposed to the main players running the syndicate. They know only one person, who collects the finished substance and transports it to different parts of the country.

"The two were interrogated at length since Thursday and relevant information was collected. They were produced before the court on Friday, which sent them to jail," the official added.

The DRI team is now working to identify the key people running the syndicate. It has 180 days to complete the investigation and file the chargesheet, the official said.

Citing a similar case involving MD manufacturing units busted in Bhopal last year, the official said investigations into such networks often lead to "big fish" operating from abroad. In the Bhopal case, a Dawood Ibrahim aide was allegedly found to be running the drug trade from Turkey, the official said.