MAPUSA/PANAJI
The Mapusa JMFC Court extended the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) custody of two accused by another two days in connection with the seizure of multiple drugs from Mapusa, while a third accused was remanded to judicial custody.
The three accused — Pranil Shinde, Sunny Dhupdale and Shashank Bandekar — were produced before the court after the completion of their three-day NCB custody.
The court granted the NCB an additional two days of custody of Shinde and Dhupdale to facilitate further investigation.
Bandekar, meanwhile, was remanded to 14 days of judicial custody.
The arrests stem from an NCB raid conducted on September 29 at a residential premises at Shetty Waddo in Mapusa.
Days after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) searched the residence of former Mapusa councillor Franky Carvalho over suspected drug trafficking, the agency on Saturday said it had arrested three persons and seized cocaine, MDMA/Ecstasy, methamphetamine, charas and ganja in a series of operations across North Goa.
Though the NCB did not disclose the names of those arrested, sources identified them as Pranil Shinde, Carvalho’s son-in-law, Sunny Dhupdale and Shashank Bandekar. Carvalho’s daughter, who was also questioned by the NCB, was granted anticipatory bail.
The NCB Goa Zonal Unit said the operations resulted in the seizure of 6.659 gms of suspected MDMA/Ecstasy, 40.587 gms of suspected cocaine, 3.082 gms of suspected methamphetamine, 2.53 gms of suspected ganja and 30.841 gms of suspected charas.
In a related operation, NCB officials intercepted two persons travelling by train at Thivim railway station and recovered 87 gms of a brown-coloured sticky substance suspected to be charas.
“Acting on specific information and during the course of investigation, the NCB Goa conducted multiple operations on September 29, resulting in the seizure of suspected narcotic substances from residential premises in Mapusa, Bardez, as well as from persons travelling by train and in a subsequent follow-up operation,” the agency said.
The probe then led the NCB team to Colvale, where another 2.35 gms of a brown-coloured sticky substance suspected to be charas was seized from a person.
“Three persons have been arrested in connection with the seizures and further investigation is underway,” the NCB said.
The NCB Goa said it was continuing operations to detect and disrupt the trafficking and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in Goa.
The agency also appealed to the public to share information on the sale or trafficking of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances through the MANAS-National Narcotics Helpline on toll-free number 1933, assuring that the identity of callers would be kept strictly confidential.
