Five from Andhra held with cocaine-ephedrine mix worth Rs. 1 crore in Kukatpally
Hyderabad: Kukatpally Police, in coordination with the Balanagar Special Operations Team (SOT), arrested five persons in Cyberabad for allegedly attempting to sell cocaine mixed with ephedrine. The arrests were made near Jaya Nagar, Kukatpally. Police seized 820 grams of the drug, estimated to be worth ₹1 crore. The accused were taken into custody and are being produced before the court.
According to the police, the main accused, Gunashekar, a serving Armed Reserve constable from Tirupati, proposed the sale of ephedrine for profit. He supplied the drug to Unnam Surendra, a 31-year-old unemployed man also from Tirupati. Surendra, seeking to make easy money, involved four others, Dothireddy Haribabu Reddy, a contractor; Chegudi Mercy Margaret and Shaik Masthan Vali, both fast-food center owners from Addanki; and Devaraju Yesu Babu, a loan agent.
Police said Surendra had known Margaret through earlier financial dealings. Disputes between Surendra, Margaret, and Vali over loan repayments brought in Haribabu Reddy as a mediator. Margaret later consulted Yesu Babu, who claimed to have contacts in Hyderabad willing to buy the drug.
On May 29, Surendra collected the drug from Gunashekar in Tirupati and travelled to Hyderabad via Guntur. The group met in Kukatpally to plan distribution. On June 2, while moving towards Bhagyanagar in search of buyers, their suspicious behavior alerted a patrolling team. One suspect attempted to flee but was caught.
Police recovered 820 grams of the cocaine-ephedrine mixture, a digital weighing machine, and five smartphones. The seizure was made under the procedures of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The operation was led under the supervision of Medchal SOT DCP D. Srinivas and Balanagar L&O ADCP P. Satyanarayana, with assistance from Kukatpally Police and SOT Balanagar teams. Cyberabad Police have requested parents to remain alert about their children’s activities and to report any suspicious behavior.