By Tasneem Bandukwala
On September 13th, Pune Police unearthed an illegal cannabis manufacturing unit in Ganj Peth and arrested a woman accused of running the operation. The raid, carried out by the Khadak Police team earlier this week, led to the seizure of a substantial quantity of contraband along with equipment used for production.
The accused, identified as Rohini Chavan, was intercepted near her residence after police received a tip-off about suspicious activities in the locality. Officers discovered plastic bags containing cannabis pills in her possession. A subsequent search of her home, located behind Trishul Mitra Mandal, revealed a full-fledged facility for manufacturing cannabis-based products.
During the raid, police seized 351 kilograms of cannabis powder stored in seven sacks and 280 cannabis pills weighing around 24 kilograms. The factory was also equipped with machines, grinders, stoves, weighing scales, utensils, and a refrigerator, all of which were being used to process the contraband.
Officials estimated the street value of all the seized material to be around ₹98,000. Senior police officials confirmed that Chavan did not possess any licenses or legal permits for the production of cannabis. “The accused was running the entire setup illegally. We have seized the materials and sent samples for forensic analysis. Further investigations are underway to trace her network and the source of supply,” said a police spokesperson.
The case was registered after Constable Ashish Chavan filed a complaint, acting on intelligence inputs about the hidden factory. Authorities are now probing whether others were involved in the operation and how long it had been active.
This case adds to a stream of recent narcotics-related crackdowns in Pune. In August, the Crime Branch in Wagholi seized ₹76 lakh worth of mephedrone. Two men from Rajasthan were arrested after police acted on a tip. Together, these incidents create a worrying escalation in the scale of drug operations in Pune.