Nagpur: The Crime Branch Unit 5 team has arrested alleged notorious MD (mephedrone) drug trafficker Vishal 'Phalli' alias Vishal Prithvilal Gupta, who was wanted in multiple serious criminal cases, including an NDPS Act case and the MCOCA case linked to the firing incident involving corporator Shubham Modghare. Gupta was arrested along with his girlfriend, Saheli Pandharam alias Sonu, from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu after a 1,900-km pursuit.
The accused had allegedly been evading arrest for several months. The police team traced them through confidential intelligence, technical analysis of their social media activity and swift coordination. After reaching Rameswaram, the team took the accused into custody and secured a transit remand from the court to bring them to Nagpur.
The operation was carried out by a team led by Police Inspector Vinayak Golhe, with Assistant Police Inspector Kadam, Head Constables Nazir and Raju Takalkar playing key roles. The team travelled nearly 1,900 km to track down the wanted accused.
Gupta is allegedly a notorious MD drug trafficker with several serious criminal cases registered against him, including murder, attempt to murder and drug trafficking. He was wanted in an NDPS case and under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in connection with the firing incident involving corporator Shubham Modghare.
Linked to ₹1.54-crore MD drug seizure
The arrest is also significant in connection with a major drug seizure made by Crime Branch Unit 5 in the Narendra Nagar area under Beltarodi police station limits. The team had seized MD drugs worth approximately ₹1.54 crore and arrested six alleged habitual offenders in that case.
Further investigation reportedly revealed that Gupta and his girlfriend, Saheli Pandharam alias Sonu, were allegedly the key conspirators in the drug trafficking case.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dabhade, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Deepak Agrawal and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vaibhav Jadhav.
Police Inspector Shirsagar, Head Constables Vivek and Ganesh of the NDPS Cell, and Woman Police Constable Poonam Shende of the Social Security Branch (SSB) assisted in the operation. PSI Zingare and the Cyber team provided technical support.
The successful operation is being seen as a significant breakthrough in the investigation into organised drug trafficking networks operating in Nagpur.
