The FDA and the police from Mumbai and Thane are trying to track down more than 15,000 kg of the drug that has mysteriously disappeared from the markets.
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and the police from Mumbai and Thane are trying to track down more than 15,000 kg of Ketamine Hydrochloric powder (KHP) — an anaesthetic drug infamous for its surreptitious use in date rape cases — that has mysteriously disappeared from the markets.
Recently, a South African model was drugged at the Bawa International Hotel and sexually assaulted by two persons who laced her drinks with KHP.
Nine FIRs have been registered at six police stations in Mumbai and Bhiwandi between March 21 and April 3 against over 50 persons associated with the pharmaceutical industry in Mumbai. These people allegedly smuggled the drug out of the country for huge profits. The LT Marg police arrested three people on March 31 in connection with the incident. They have been remanded in police custody for 14 days.
Police inspector MR Pawar of the LT Marg police station said, “We have arrested three brokers — Paresh Pagadia, Atul Parekh and Haren Shah. So far, they have admitted to selling around 500 kg of KHP in the black market using bogus bills. We are on the lookout for the main players in the racket.”
“In a single instance 4,000 kg of KHP was sent to Nagaland. The drug is used in anaesthesia formulations, for which there are no manufacturing units in Nagaland. We suspect the consignment may have been smuggled out of the country to Burma or China where it commands a ten times higher price. We have has also written to the central government asking it to bring KHP under the controlled substances regime,” said FDA commissioner Ramesh Kumar.
The dual purpose of the drug has raised doubts about the consignment having been smuggled out of India at the behest of the international drug mafia. The drug, when combined with ‘Ecstasy’ or ‘cocaine’, is known to induce a perpetual state of numbed consciousness in a victim who is then unable to resist sexual abuse.
KHP with proper bills can cost nearly Rs10,000 a kg in the Indian market. The same would be available at Rs15,000 a kg in the black market. In China, KHP sells at Rs 1 lakh a kg and in the UK it is Rs 70,000 a kg.
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