170 held in crackdown on adulteration operators in Maharashtra

In a state-wide crackdown on the adulteration mafia, the Maharashtra police on Thursday arrested more than 170 persons.

The police are also examining the possibility of invoking the tough Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against accused in the Sonawane murder case.

“The state never witnessed such a merciless incident and the government is keen on taking serious note of this. We have arrested as many as 170 people associated with oil, diesel, sand, milk and other adulteration racket across the state,” said additional director general of police, law and order (Maharashtra), KP Raghuvanshi.

He said raids were conducted at Chandrapur, Wardha, Nagpur Rural, Alibaug, Ratnagiri, Hingoli, Sindhudurg, Thane Rural and Ahmednagar among other places. “These people are either involved in smuggling or adulteration. These accused can be either be booked under Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act or externed from their respective areas,” Raghuvanshi said.

Raghuvanshi said ten persons had been arrested in the Sonawane murder so far and the eleventh accused, Popat Shinde, is admitted to JJ Hospital with burn injuries.