Five drug suspects put on 8-day remand by Vadodara Court

Two of the five accused, including Saumil Pathak, have a history of criminal record. The court remanded them to 8-day custody in order to conduct a fair investigation and it may be extended thereafter if required.

Vadodara: The Vadodara Court on Friday remanded five drug suspects detained by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) to eight days of police custody. The drug suspects were arrested in Singhrot in connection with the manufacturing of banned MD drugs. The suspects were apprehended on the spot from a manufacturing unit in rural Vadodara during a raid conducted by the Gujarat ATS on Wednesday.

The arrested youth were identified as Saumil Pathak, Shailesh Kataria, Vinod Nijama, Mohammad Shafi alias Jaggu Diwan, and Bharat Chawda. Two of the five accused, including Saumil Pathak, have a history of criminal record. The court remanded them to 8-day custody in order to conduct a fair investigation and it may be extended thereafter if required, said an ATS official.

The ATS team following a tip-off raided the godown on the outskirts of the city and seized raw materials worth Rs 478 crore and a huge cache of banned MD drugs. One of the reasons for seeking the remand was to bust the entire drug racket and find out if they have international or interstate links. The Gujarat ATS is also probing any terrorist connection in the case.