Patna: A police constable posted in Bhagalpur has come under the scanner for his alleged links to a major drug racket busted by Patna police, which led to the seizure of more than 21kg of high-grade smack worth about Rs 25 crore and the arrest of two persons.
Constable Rishikesh, trained at Police Training College (PTC), is a resident of Nalanda district.Sharing details of the operation on Saturday, Patna SSP Kartikeya K Sharma said police conducted raids in the Alamganj and Ramkrishna Nagar areas on Friday night as part of a crackdown on narcotics trade. During the raid at an apartment in Alamganj, two persons were arrested and 1.6kg of smack, along with cash and cellphones, was recovered.
During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they were operating from a rented room in Ramkrishna Nagar. A follow-up raid there led to the recovery of around 16kg of raw smack in stone-like form and powder, along with 3.5kg of an adulterant locally known as “power”. Police also seized cash, cheques, large mixers and grinders used to process and dilute the drug before sale. In total, 21.18kg of narcotic substance was recovered, with an estimated market value of Rs 25 crore, the SSP said.
Police said the seized smack was of high quality and was adulterated before being sold. The Alamganj flat was allegedly used for selling drugs, while the Ramkrishna Nagar premises were used for processing. The two arrested men were identified as Jitendra Kumar of Samastipur district and Nitish Kumar of Jehanabad district.Investigations revealed that Jitendra had been arrested five years ago in a similar case involving the seizure of 9kg of smack and had spent around 33 months in jail.
After his release, he allegedly resumed the illegal trade. Nitish, a tempo driver living near Bhootnath Road, was involved in transporting the drugs.Police said the raw smack was being sourced from areas near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and that the racket had been operating for the past 1.5 to two years from newly constructed buildings taken on rent. During the Ramkrishna Nagar raid, police also recovered a pistol, a country-made firearm, two magazines and two cartridges.
Cash amounting to about Rs 2.15 lakh was seized from the two locations.The SSP said the involvement of PTC-trained constable Rishikesh has also come to light. “He was earlier posted in Gaya and was transferred to Bhagalpur in July last year, but he never joined duty there and is still absconding. Bank cheques worth Rs 17 lakh in his name have been seized, and raids are on to trace and arrest him,” Sharma said.According to police, 15–20 people are under the radar. Efforts are now focused on identifying the supply chain, financiers and other key members of the gang, which mainly supplied drugs in areas such as Patna City, Kamla Nehru Park and Cheena Kothi.
