Eagle busts Mephedrone manufacturing unit, two held

Hyderabad: The Eagle Force team arrested a narcotics manufacturer along with his associate near Abdullapurmet and seized 750 gram of narcotic substance, Mephedrone, from a mango grove in Batasingaram.The accused have been identified as Keesari Matsyagiri, 38, from Trimulgherry, and his associate Nimmala Naresh, 38, from Mothkur in Nalgonda. Acting on specific information, Eagle Force sleuths intercepted them on Batasingaram Road, within the Abdullapurmet PS limits, in the early hours of Thursday while they were travelling in a hatchback.Police seized the Mephedrone worth ₹50 lakh from their possession.

During interrogation, they allegedly confessed to manufacturing the drug at a tin shed in a mango grove located in Batasingaram.Police later raided the site and seized lab equipment along with chemicals used for manufacturing the drug.Eagle Force sleuths registered a case against the accused under the NDPS Act and arrested them. During interrogation, Matsyagiri reportedly told police that about a month ago, they had approached Naresh’s relative, R Mahesh of Mothkur, a watchman at a mango farm in Batasingaram, offering him ₹10,000 per month to set up a small unit in a tin shed on the farm to manufacture “facial glow powder”.

As Mahesh agreed to the arrangement, the duo procured apparatus and chemicals, including bromine, toluene, mono-methylamine, acetone, hydrochloric acid, soda ash and caustic flakes, by paying an advance of ₹60,000 to Matsyagiri’s contact, Prabhakar. The chemicals and equipment were then shifted to the shed in the mango grove.Matsyagiri, who is a graduate in zoology and chemistry with experience in chemical laboratories, allegedly manufactured 750 gram of Mephedrone. While they were transporting the contraband to Suryapet to meet prospective buyers, the Eagle Force team intercepted them.The accused were produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody on Friday.