Rs 60 million worth heroin seized in Bangalore

In a major drug haul, the Bangalore police have seized five kilograms of heroin valued at Rs 60 million and arrested two persons including a state-level volleyball player from Madhya Pradesh.

Bangalore City Police Commissioner N Achuta Rao told reporters yesterday that a team of policemen, acting on a tip-off, raided an auto stand in the upmarket Church Street in the City that yielded a rich haul of heroin.

The two persons arrested during the raid have been identified as Anjani Kumar Singh, 28, a volleyball player from Bhopal, and Khader Bakshi, 52, a native of Rajasthan.

Rao said the heroin recovered in the raid appeared to have a high level of purity and was estimated to be worth Rs 60 million in the international market. He said the seized narcotics would be sent to the laboratory for tests.

The seizure of 5 kilograms of heroin from Church Street in Bangalore comes close on the heels of the recovery of drugs worth Rs 20 million from the Udayan Express by the police on August 10.

Rao said the interrogation of the two suspects arrested in the Church Street seizure had revealed that the supplier of the heroin was from Rajasthan. “However, it is not clear if Bangalore was the transit point or the final destination. We are now trying to probe into the existence of a drug route that passes through Bangalore or the presence of any drug cartel operating in and around the City”, he added.