Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): More than two months have passed since the sensational revelation of a factory manufacturing synthetic drugs near Bhopal, However, the Central and state agencies are still in the dark about where the huge profits generated by the owners of the facility were stashed.
On October 5 last year, Narcotics Control Bureau and ATS of Gujarat Police had raided a drugs factory in Bagroda Industrial Complex near Bhopal. The twin agencies had seized drugs valued at Rs 1,814 crore from the premises. Since then, no further action has been taken by either the Central or state agencies.
Three accused Amit Chaturvedi, Sannyal Bane and Harish Anjana were arrested by the NCB and the ATS. Later, one more accused Premsukh Patidar was arrested from Mandsaur. Sources in the NCB claim that the four own huge properties in their names and also in the names of their family members.
‘Their luxurious life and amenities in their homes are for all to see on different social platform in the form of photographs. They own huge villas, high-end cars and SUVs, jewellery, watches and many other luxury items and that is very clear from their own social media accounts,’ one of the officers on condition of anonymity said.
However, no effort seems to have been made to unearth the assets owned by the accused and seize them. An Enforcement Directorate (ED) official claimed that the NCB had not forwarded the case to the ED for further action. It is also claimed that the NCB is also competent to take action against properties earned through illegal means, but they have not acted to date in the matter.
Multiple agencies join probe in other cases In two recent cases
Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta police, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax are in action. One case is related to former RTO constable Saurabh Sharma and his aide Chetan Singh Gaur. Initial action was taken by Lokayukta police and later the ED entered the picture. Another case is related to builder Rajesh Mishra. It is alleged that many politicians and bureaucrats had invested their black money in the projects of Mishra.
NCB has done its job
Special prosecution officer NCB, Sunil Shrivastava told Free Press that the work of NCB is limited to the action against illicit and illegal drug making, trafficking and storing. The seizure of property, bank accounts and other legal actions are the responsibility of other agencies.
