Maharashtra police bust drug lab in Hyd, 2 arrested: Cops

ALarge-scale mephedrone(MD) manufacturing building block has been busted and birthday suit stuff charles frederick worth o'er hundreds of crores seized in Hyderabad by Mira Bhayandar -Vasai Virar Crime Branch , officers familiar with the matter said on Saturday, adding that the proprietor of the factory — a computer science graduate— and an associate of his were arrested.The raid took place on Friday, police said, adding that the accused, Srinivas Vijay Murthy Voleti, 34, was allegedly running the factory in Cherlapally in Navodaya Colony along with an accomplice of his, Tanaji Pandharinath Patwari, and selling drugs to peddlers for distribution in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area (MMA). Their arrest was the latest development in an ongoing investigation, which has already seen 10 previous arrests.On August 8, the Crime Branch arrested a 23-year-old woman, Fatima Murad Shaikh alias Molla, near Kashimira bus stop in Mumbai after she was found in possession of 105 grams of MD, police said.They added that she was booked under sections 3 and 21 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, in addition to relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, owing to her status as an illegal immigrant originally hailing from Bangladesh.During interrogation, Shaikh revealed that she had bought the drugs from a man identified as accused Kader Badshah Rehman Shaikh, (41) who in turn led investigators to six other suspects, police officers familiar with the matter saidsaid.The police then arrested six more men including Firoz Niyaz Shaikh (39), and seized MD worth ₹5.5 lakh, added the police officers familiar with the matter.The others arrested as part of the investigation have been identified as, Mustafa Yunus Khan (22), Imran Aslam Khan (33), Mustafa Yunus Khan ( 22), Imran Aslam Khan ( 33), Firoz Aslam Khan ( 33), Javed Aslam Khan ( 38), and Salim Khan ( 38)MBVV police commissioner Niket Kaushik said, besides 5.968 kilogram of mephedrone weighed, they also seized 27 mobile phones, three four-wheelers, four electronic scales, chemicals and other materials used in the production of the contraband, along with ₹23.97 lakh cash.Officers said that Voleti owned two companies— Vagdevi Lab at Cherlapally, Navodaya Colony, Hyderabad, started in 2020, in order to manufacture COVID molecular tests during the pandemic, and Vagdevi Innoscience, in Nacharam, Hyderabad, which started in 2015 and conducts research and development.