Former municipal president Santosh Kadam held in Tuljapur drug racket case

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Dharashiv district police on Sunday arrested Tuljapur municipal council's former president Santosh Kadam, the office-bearer of a political party, in connection with the Tuljapur drug trafficking case, which came to light on Feb 14 after the arrest of three people from Tamalwadi village with 45 grams of MD.Police seized synthetic drugs worth Rs 2.5 lakh on Feb 15, uncovering a network spanning Solapur, Naldurg, Pune and Mumbai. A priest from Tuljabhavani temple was among the main peddlers. The case now involves 38 accused, with 22 arrested and 16 still absconding, including some prominent individuals who have been on the run for two months.Dharashiv superintendent of police Ritu Khokar told TOI, "Kadam was named as an accused in this case and included in the chargesheet filed earlier in connection with the case. He, however, remained at large till the arrest was made last night (Sunday night) from Akluj in Solapur district."Tamalwadi police have arrested political party worker Jeevan Salunke from Solapur in the case. Sub-divisional police officer Nilesh Deshmukh, who is leading the investigation in this case, told TOI, "Kadam was produced before the court on Monday, following which he was remanded to 10-day police custody."The Tuljapur drug network exploits the town's high footfall of Tuljabhavani temple devotees. Easy money lures youth into addiction, with traffickers targeting visitors and selling drugs at Rs 2,000-3,000 per gram in areas like Bomblya Chowk, Hudco and Vetal Nagar. Street-level sellers remain unidentified.Imposing a self-regulation, Dharashiv district collector Keerthi Kiran Pujara, within a week of police filing a chargesheet in April, asked the pujari association of the historical Tuljapur Bhavani temple not to include names of Pujaris accused in the drug case in the roster for performing pooja or aarti at the temple.According to the chargesheet, the accused were linked through a complex web of bank transactions and call detail records (CDRs). It contains statements of the accused and details their roles in the racket. The document also reveals how the accused, including prime suspect Sangeeta Gole, came into contact with each other and formed an organised distribution chain. Gole, arrested from Mumbai, is alleged to be the kingpin of the operation. Her bank accounts reportedly show transactions amounting to Rs 5 crore. Police have also seized a significant quantity of gold from her.