CHENNAI: In a significant crackdown on the illegal drug trade, the Greater Chennai Police have unearthed an interstate network involved in smuggling painkiller tablets from Bihar and arrested nine individuals, including a medical shop owner from Bihar.
Acting on a tip-off, a team from the Kodungaiyur police station conducted surveillance in the RR Nagar area on the night of November 19.
During checks, they intercepted eight individuals and found them in possession of a large cache of painkiller tablets meant for illegal sale. All eight were arrested on the spot.
The arrested men have been identified as Praveenkumar (23), Aravind (27), Ranjith (28), Baijan Ahamad (23), Sanjay (23), Ajith (27), Subash (25), and Shadab Hussain (27). Police seized 1,800 painkiller tablets and three mobile phones from them.
Investigations revealed that three of the accused, Praveenkumar, Ranjith, and Subash, are history-sheeters with serious prior criminal records, including multiple cases of attempted murder.
Interrogation of the arrested men and technical analysis led the police to a medical shop in Araria district, Bihar, which was the source of the pills. A special team from Kodungaiyur, assisted by local Araria Town police, arrested the medical shop owner, Peros Risha (46), a resident of Azad Nagar in Araria, on November 28. It was also revealed that Risha's son, Fagadh Risha (20), is already in jail in a similar case registered by the Araria police.
Peros Risha was produced before a local court in Bihar and brought to Chennai on transit remand for further investigation.