Patna crackdown: Police seize narcotics valued at Rs 25 crore
Patna: In a major crackdown on narcotics trafficking, Patna Police has busted a large-scale drug racket and arrested two accused, seizing over 21 kg of smack with an estimated international market value of around Rs 25 crore.
The operation was carried out under the jurisdiction of Alamganj Police Station following specific intelligence inputs received on March 27.
Acting on the inputs, a special raiding team was constituted under the supervision of City SP (East) Parichay Kumar.
During the initial raid at Royal Green Apartment in the Alamganj area, police recovered 1.681 kg of processed brown sugar, Rs 2.15 lakh in cash, seven mobile phones, and a tempo used for transportation.
Based on the interrogation of the arrested accused, a second raid was conducted at a residence in Khemni Chak under Ramkrishnanagar Police Station.
From there, officials recovered a large consignment of narcotics, including 16 kg of smack (in stone and powder form) and 3.5 kg of a cutting agent. Additionally, equipment used in drug processing — such as a mixer-grinder and three digital weighing machines — along with bank cheques and other incriminating materials were seized.
In total, 21.181 kg of smack has been recovered in the operation.
According to Patna SSP Kartikeya Sharma, around 1.6 kg was seized from Alamganj, while the remaining quantity was recovered from the Ramkrishnanagar area.
The two arrested accused, identified as Jitendra Kumar and Nitish Kumar, are currently being interrogated.
Police said both individuals have a prior criminal history and had earlier been jailed in a drug trafficking case involving the seizure of 9 kg of smack around five years ago, indicating a long-running organised network.
In a significant development, the name of a police constable, Rishikesh Kumar, has also surfaced during the investigation. Reportedly posted in Bhagalpur, he has been absent from duty for the past eight to nine months.
Preliminary findings suggest his involvement in the drug trade for nearly two years, and efforts are underway to arrest him.
The police also seized firearms, including a pistol and a country-made katta, along with a magazine and eight cheques — two of which are reportedly linked to police personnel.
Authorities suspect that 6 to 15 more individuals may be involved in the racket. Further investigation is underway to dismantle the network.