One more arrested in Satara drug case

MUMBAI: The city crime branch, which is probing a drug case involving a police head constable, on Thursday arrested the supplier of the banned drug from Kerala. The accused, Paul Raj Durauswami, 40, has been sent in police custody till May 19.
Police said that they received an information that Durauswami was hiding in his village, Trichy in Kerala and laid a trap for him.Earlier, police teams visited Kanyakumari, Bangalore and other parts of Kerala before finally getting him into the net. Lady drug dealer, Baby Patankar, now behind bars, had told police that she would get the drugs from Maknan Samuel who led police to Durauswami.
Police said that it was Durauswami who had provided 120kg M-cat drugs to Samuel and Patankar. Police had started the arrest with Marine Drive head constable Dharma Kalokhe. They all have been booked for allegedly supplying, possessing and transporting the drugs.
The Satara police on March 9 had raided Kalokhe’s house at his hometown in Satara and seized 100 kg mephedron (popularly known as MD or meo mewo drug) valued at Rs 20 crore. Later, the Mumbai police searched Kalokhe’s cupboard in Marine Drive police station and found 12kg MD, two wine bottles and some foreign currencies. Kalokhe told police that the drugs were supplied to him by Baby.
A month later, crime branch claimed to have caught Baby from Panvel. The drugs, said police, was transported from Worli to Parel and then to Satara. “Kalokhe had transported the drugs,” said a police source.
Samuel, a Wadala resident, was arrested by the Shahu Nagar police in Decmeber in a narcotic case and since he was in jail. “He is alleged to have supplied the drugs to Baby before his arrest,” the officer said. The Satara police has also sought Baby’s custody in connection with their case of 100kg MD seizure.