A chance ride turns autowala into interstate drug cartel’s transporter for 14 years | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: A chance encounter with two passengers who boarded his autorickshaw in 2012 allegedly drew a Hyderabad auto driver into an interstate drug syndicate, turning him into a transporter of narcotics for 14 years.EAGLE (Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement) officials, who recently unravelled the alleged drug manufacturing network and clandestine labs of key accused Chetan Madhukar and his associates from Maharashtra, Assam and Telangana, found that the gang was allegedly involved in manufacturing ephedrine, alprazolam and mephedrone. As part of the alleged conspiracy, the accused reportedly purchased a goods vehicle and two motorcycles in P Kishtaiah’s name, all bearing Telangana registration numbers, and allegedly recruited him as a transporter for a monthly payment of ₹15,000, officials said.Dayanand Manik Mudannar and Sunil Singh Sardar, both natives of Maharashtra, befriended Kishtaiah after boarding his auto in 2012. Claiming they were unfamiliar with the city, they sought his help with local transport whenever they visited Hyderabad, sources in EAGLE Force told TOI.About three months later, Dayanand bought a motorcycle in Kishtaiah’s name, promising to give it to him permanently, but took it to Maharashtra instead. He later made a similar promise about a goods vehicle, which was purchased in Kishtaiah’s name in 2013 using his identity documents.Dayanand subsequently introduced Kishtaiah to Fayaz Ahmed Rasool Sheikh, who allegedly played a key role in arranging personnel and logistics for the gang’s drug manufacturing units in Hayathnagar, Choutuppal, Kushaiguda and Jeedimetla. Another clandestine unit was found in Malegaon, Maharashtra, police said.Precursors were prepared at Choutuppal, while ephedrine was manufactured at Bacharam with the assistance of two chemists from Vijayawada and Maharashtra, officials said.On the instructions of Fayaz and other gang members, Kishtaiah allegedly transported the precursors and finished drugs. The final product was moved from Abdullapurmet to Mumbai and other parts of the country in an SUV before being sold illegally to drug peddlers.Officials also found that Fayaz, Dayanand, Kishtaiah and the two chemists had been arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in 2014 for allegedly manufacturing ephedrine. After spending more than six months in judicial remand, they secured bail and started continuing the operations as usual.Fayaz was subsequently arrested by Mumbai and Andhra Pradesh police in other cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He remains in jail, while the trial in the case registered by the NCB is underway.