First charge-sheet likely to be filed in a fortnight

Hyderabad: Even as the Telangana Excise Department's Special Investigation Team (SIT) is continuing with its probe in the high-end drugs racket, the first charge-sheet in the case is likely to be filed within next two to three weeks, an official said on Sunday.

The racket, involved in supplying high-end drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and methylenedioxy- methamphetamine (MDMA), was busted here on July 2 by the SIT with the arrest of three persons. A total of 11 cases had been registered since then and 21 people were arrested by the Excise officials. The arrested persons included a US citizen Dundu Anish, a former aerospace engineer who had worked with the NASA, a Dutch national Mike Kamminga, a South African national Alex Victor, besides seven BTech degree-holders employed with multinational companies in Hyderabad.

"Eleven cases have been registered and 21 persons were arrested by the Excise Department. As of now, we are going ahead with the consolidation of paperwork which includes statements and records of all those who have been questioned so far.

"Simultaneously, raids are continuing based on the information. The SIT is in the process of preparing documents pertaining to the cases before filing charge-sheets. Charge-sheets will be filed separately for all the cases. A first chargesheet is likely to be filed may be within next two-three weeks," a senior SIT official told PTI.

The investigators suspect that the gang's clientele included nearly 1,000 customers including students of city-based schools and colleges, people associated with Tollywood, senior officials of MNCs and employees of IT firms in Cyberabad. Following information on the sale of LSD,

a team of Excise officials also posed as customers and approached small-time sellers seeking LSD. To break the network of suppliers, a new Task Force was raised in the Department which conducted extensive raids across twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and achieved the breakthrough in busting the racket with the arrest of Abdul Quddos, a private employee, Abdul Wahab, a student, and Calvin Mascrenhas, a musician, who were supplying LSD and MDMA in large quantities.

After names of some members of Tollywood had cropped up, the SIT summoned them under relevant sections of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and questioned 12 persons connected to the Telugu film industry, including actors and directors.

The SIT questioned them to find out if they had any links with the racket as consumers or suppliers, or with those arrested. The Excise officials maintained that those questioned so far had cooperated with the investigators and some of them had even given "certain clues" about the racket. The SIT has so far questioned around 30 persons including Tollywood personalities.