Palm Beach Road Opium: SUV driver detained in Rajasthan

Navi Mumbai: After a manhunt that spanned six days for the driver of the SUV that crashed into the traffic island at Nerul signal on the Palm Beach Road, after which the police recovered 69 kg of opium worth Rs 70 lakh and a country-made pistol with six bullets from the SUV, the NRI Coastal police team detained him in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, on Thursday evening.

A police officer said the SUV driver, Ganpat Birbal Ram, was detained at a hotel in Jodhpur. He was traced after his driving licence was also found, which led the police to his residential address at Motaniya Nagar, a rural village in Osian tehsil, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan. As the SUV was of Jodhpur RTO passing, the licence holder's registered mobile number was obtained, and it was also confirmed that the vehicle was registered to the accused. Accordingly, two police teams were formed to trace the accused. One police team was tracking his mobile tower location, but it was intermittently switched on. While another team was sent to his Jodhpur address, he had not reached there. Hence, the police team camped in Jodhpur for six days and communicated with the tracking team. Upon receiving information that his mobile tower location was in Jodhpur at a hotel, the police team reached the hotel and detained him.

The police officer said, "The accused driver, Ram, after escaping from the accident spot, was changing his location and kept his mobile off for most of the time. To escape to Jodhpur, he borrowed his friend's car, who resided in Navi Mumbai. The police team escorting the accused from Jodhpur to Navi Mumbai will reach late at night on Friday. Thereafter, he will be arrested under the FIR registered under the NDPS Act, Fire Arms and BNS sections for rash and negligent driving and causing damage to public property."