Kalaburagi police bust drug racket, arrest 54; Narcotics smuggler shot at and arrested

KALABURAGI: The Kalaburagi police have busted a drug racket and arrested 54 people who were smuggling narcotics packaged as cigarettes and seized the banned substances worth Rs 8.23 lakh from them. The police also shot at a drug smuggler in a separate case after he attacked them.

Police commissioner Sharanappa S D said the RG Nagar police arrested 54 people who were bringing in drugs from Bihar and selling them in Kalaburagi. The drugs would be packed in cigarette packets and later converted into pills and syrup before being sold. The narcotic substances were being couriered in the name and address of medical stores which had shut down, he said.

The injured accused and the police constable in hospital.

In another case, police fired at an interstate drug smuggler, injuring him in the leg, near Tavaragera Cross, on Saturday. The accused Supreeth Navale was bringing scheduled drugs in his car from Hyderabad to Kalaburagi. Based on specific information, a police team intercepted him. However, Supreeth attacked police constable Gurumurthy and attempted to flee, the police commissioner said.

In self defence, Chowk police station inspector Raghavendra opened fire at Supreeth. He was arrested and shifted to hospital. The injured constable has been admitted to the trauma care centre at GIMS, the police chief said.

Supreeth has three NDPS cases registered against him and operates in Karnataka, Telangana and Hydeerabad. He has been involved in smuggling of scheduled drugs since 2016 and several cases have been registered against him in Kalaburagi and Hyderabad, the police commissioner said.