Psychotropic drugs worth Rs 686 crore have been seized from the home and godown of a resident of Jamui Kala village of Maharajganj along the Indo-Nepal border on Wednesday.
While prime accused Ramesh Kumar Gupta was arrested, one of his aides, Govind Gupta, was said to be on the lam.
The Maharajganj police, Food and Drugs Administration and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jointly raided both places and seized the drugs on Wednesday.
Giving details of the raid at a press conference on Thursday, SSB Commandant Manoj Singh said, "This was a joint raid conducted along with the local police and drug inspector. The drugs seized are worth Rs 686 crore. Some of them are sold in medical stores while others are smuggled to Nepal since the borders are open. It is a big operation, hoping that the nexus will break and the youth will be able to leave addiction behind. It was a well-coordinated raid. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Pramod and SSB Commandant Sanjay Kumar planned the operation together."
Superintendent of Police of Maharajganj, Pradeep Gupta, said that a lot of material was seized from the house and a case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, Copyright Act and Indian Penal Code sections 419, 429, 467, 468 and 471 was registered against the accused.
"We recovered 104 addictive injections, 18,782 syrup bottles, 3,13,384 capsules, 1,24,897 tablets and 1,34,460 printed price labels from the warehouse. One of the accused is Ramesh Kumar Gupta and drugs were seized from his home and godown at Jamui Kala village in Thoothibari police station area. Another accused named Govind Gupta is on the run and a hunt is on to drop the net on him. It is a huge success against illegal drugs trade in the district and the entire team has done a commendable job. During investigation it was found the gang used to send the drugs to Nepal. Police are investigating the case and strict action will be taken against culprits," the SP said.