Marijuana farmer wanted by several states arrested by Mumbai police – Times of India

MUMBAI: A farmer engaged in marijuana farming on the Maharashtra- Madhya Pradesh border and supplying it to sellers in different states has been arrested by the Mumbai Police’s Dindoshi unit.
Raisingh Pawra, 55, was nabbed from his home in Dhule district amid fierce opposition from local villagers. Police from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had long been looking for Pawra.
The case dates back to February 2022 when Dindoshi police arrested a peddler with 50kg of marijuana in Malad East. He led them to two couples in the Andheri-MIDC area who were supplying the drugs.
With their arrests, police recovered a huge stash– over 22kg of marijuana worth Rs 2.3 lakh– stashed in a godown at Andheri from where the gang was delivering them to peddlers and individuals. One of the accused was hearing and speech impaired, police said.
Further investigations led the police team to Dhule and Jalgaon from where the drugs were being sourced. Two men, who would ferry marijuana from Pawra’s farm to neighbouring towns for handing it over to sellers, were arrested.
“We were constantly monitoring Pawra as it wasn’t easy to pick him up from his home. We learnt that he was travelling to another area and were all set to nab him. But he left the journey midway and returned home on learning that his wife had lost the gram panchayat elections,” said a police officer.
A police team led by Raut and three constables eventually decided to enter Pawra’s residence. They faced stiff opposition from locals and somehow managed to extricate the farmer from his hometown. Police are now checking his call records as they believe he may have links with other drug suppliers.
In a separate case, the Anti Narcotics Cell of Mumbai Police arrested a man with 95 gm of cocaine worth Rs 28.5 lakh on December 21. The arrest was made near Mankhurd T-Junction on Sion-Panvel Highway between 9.40pm and 11.30pm, police said.