Goregaon couple flies the coop with Rs 174cr

The Goregaon couple alleged masterminds of a massive homebased drug distribution racket has fled their residence after transferring nearly Rs 174 crore of the alleged Rs 300 crore drug money into various accounts On Thursday and Friday alone their accounts show withdrawals of Rs 96 lakh police said The Madhya Pradesh police team which is in town after issuing summons to the duo has now issued a lookout notice against themThe incident has led to a major political row in the area after Bharatiya Janata Party BJP and Shiv Sena Eknath Shindeled leaders including a local MLA and corporator led a protest outside the schoolAlso Read Owner of Bandrarsquos iconic Janata Bar passes away at 67MP police outside the branch of a reputed bank at Andheri East where they went to probe accused Ashish Mehtarsquos account PicSamiullah KhanOne of the couples associates a Mira Road resident was caught by them with MD worth Rs 17 lakh On Thursday midday had reported about Shivani Mehta and her husband Ashish Kumar Shailesh Mehta digital currency enthusiasts and business people who are accused of running a drug distribution network out of their nest in a posh Goregaon highriseThe Khaniyadhana police in Shivpuri district of MP were investigating them after one of their associates a Mira Road resident Nissar Zuber Khan 39 was caught by them with 142 grams of MD worth Rs 17 lakh The police had also seized a silver Santro in the caseOberoi Esquire in Goregaon East where the accused couple liveKhan during interrogation revealed that he works as a courier for the Mehtas and on June 6 Ashish Mehta had called him to his house at Oberoi Esquire and handed over the parcel that was seized by the cops It was supposed to be delivered to Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh Khan also told the cops that he was given a new mobile phone and SIM card for every assignment and was told to destroy them once the delivery was doneOn June 11 the Khaniyadhana police visited Mumbai with Khan and with the help of Aarey police went to the Mehtasrsquo Oberoi Esquire residence The couple was summoned to the police station for an identification parade and they were identified from a lineupFramed says lawyerldquoThe Mehtas were accompanied by their lawyer who alleged that they have been framed and asked us for some time to appear with evidencerdquo said a sourceldquoAshish Mehta even gave us a cell phone number that was switched off We kept trying the number but there was no response Finally we included their name in the FIR on Wednesdayrdquo said Dhanendra Singh Bhadoria Station House Officer of Khaniyadhana police stationA team of around eight policemen including Bhadoria are in Mumbai in search of the Mehtas The team assisted by officers from Aarey police station visited Mehtarsquos residence Friday morning and found the main door locked From the driver the police found that they had left home the previous evening asking him not to returnInvestigations by the police revealed that the Mehtas were aware of the policersquos visit and had given fake numbers and names to the society securityBased on their mobile phone records the police found Mehtas bank account details with the branch of a reputable bank in Andheri East and it was revealed that the accused has been constantly transferring money from his account On Thursday he transferred around Rs 70 lakh and on Friday Rs 26 lakh from it to various accounts By late Friday the police said from the Rs 300 crore the balance was Rs 126 croreldquoWe will now question the holders of these accounts A lookout notice has been issued against the couplerdquo Bhadoria addedWhy arrest could not be madeAdvocate Vishal Saxxenaa said ldquoSection 42 of the NDPS Act gives power of entry search seizure and arrest without warrant or authorisation But possession of the narcotics substance is important The section gives power to the officer to arrest only when he has reason to believe that the suspect is in possession of the drug or any material or document which may furnish evidence of the commission of such an offence is kept or concealed in the place being searched In the present case if possession of any such article is not found then the police can only ask the suspect to come for investigation but cannot arrest without a warrantrdquo