5 arrested with 205 gm smack worth Rs. 22L

PRAYAGRAJ, March 6 (HS): Five members of an inter-district drug peddling gang were arrested from Ustadpur Crossing, Nivi Kala under Jhunsi police station on Saturday along with 205 gm smack worth Rs. 22 lakh, a car and Rs 60,000 in cash. Police claimed to have busted a smack-seller racket with the arrest of five persons. The accused tried to escape from the police checking by hitting the vehicle on the police barricading. Following this, the police chased the car and took them into custody.

The accused have been identified as Ravi Jaiswal, Lavkush Chauhan both residents of Prayagraj, Dhiraj Kumar Rajbhar, Mahtab Ansari of Ghazipur and Rizwan of Lucknow. Jhunsi inspector said the arrests were made following a specific tip-off that a gang of drug peddlers supplying drugs in the city would be assembling at a spot near Ustad Crossing in Jhunsi. “The gang had been active in eastern districts of UP and used to procure drugs from Barabanki,” he added. According to police, the gang was regularly selling smack in different parts of the city. The police team has registered an FIR against the five accused at Jhunsi police station under Section 8/21 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The police said, prima facie, the probe has revealed that they had been peddling drugs for the past two years. The police have been investigating their past criminal record. “We are questioning them to trace their aides,” police said.