Bharuch (Gujarat), February 14 A 33-year-old man with a degree in Chemistry has been arrested for allegedly operating a mephedrone manufacturing unit from his rented house in Bharuch district, Gujarat, police said on Saturday.
Police have seized mephedrone worth approximately Rs 2.2 lakh from the premises, officials said.
Acting on a tip-off, the Bharuch Special Operations Group (SOG) arrested Anil Rakholiya on Friday from House No. 301 at Siddh Co-operative Housing Society, located in the Ankleshwar GIDC residential area.
According to a statement by the police department, the SOG seized 74.88 grams of mephedrone worth approximately Rs 2.24 lakh from the house, along with a mobile phone, and raw materials and equipment used in the manufacture of the drug.
The accused, originally from Virpur village in the Visavadar taluka of Junagadh district, had been residing in Ankleshwar with his family.
Rakholiya, who has a BSc in Chemistry, was employed as a production officer at a company in Ankleshwar. He allegedly used his academic knowledge to experiment at home and successfully manufacture drugs, said Jhagadiya Assistant Superintendent of Police Ajay Meena.
Over the past six months, he had set up a laboratory in the bathroom of his rented flat and started producing mephedrone after reportedly incurring losses in the stock market.
A case has been registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and efforts are being made to trace the source of the raw materials and his customers, police said.
Mephedrone, also known as meow meow or m-cat, is a powerful stimulant with a high potential for abuse.
