NT reporter
Panaji
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, has filed a prosecution complaint before the Special Court, North Goa, against 12 accused persons and two firms under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act
in connection with an alleged illegal narcotics manufacturing and distribution network.
The case is linked to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence’s (DRI) June 2018 nationwide operation, code-named Operation Vitamin, during which ketamine worth crores of rupees was seized from a factory in Sattari.
The accused named in the prosecution complaint are Rahul Balkrishna Shedge, Anthony Karakutty Paul, Ishratkhan Yusufbhai Parmar, Devesh Jagdishbhai Purohit, Mayur Chandrakant Sadrani, Bindu Anthony Karukattikaran, Devaram Hanjaji Rajpurohit, Gulam Samdani, Mallisetti Hema Chandra, Rajendra Babuji Bhosale, Amarjeet Jitendra Shukla, Zakir Nizamuddin Kalavant alias Zakir Hussain, Adroit Circuit Logix Private Limited and J71 Hospitality.
The next hearing is scheduled for June 23.
It may be noted that in October 2024, the ED had provisionally attached 11 immovable and four movable properties in Maharashtra valued at Rs 3.77 crore as part of the money laundering investigation.
The ED initiated its investigation on the basis of a complaint filed by the DRI, Mumbai Zonal Unit, before the Additional Special Judge for NDPS cases, Greater Mumbai, against Rahul Balkrishna Shedge and others under various provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985.
According to the DRI, Operation Vitamin was a more than three-day nationwide operation covering 14 residential and industrial premises across multiple states. The operation allegedly dismantled four illicit ketamine manufacturing facilities in Goa, Vadodara and Raigad, including one located in the Pissurlem Industrial Estate in Sattari.
The DRI had stated
that about 308 kg of ketamine and 2,000 kg of raw material, sufficient to manufacture another 250 kg, were seized during the
operation.
