Ephedrine haul: Nine months later, Thane police arrest ‘kingpin’

The Thane police Wednesday formally arrested Kishore Rathod, the ‘kingpin’ of the alleged international Ephedrine racket, nine months after it registered a case in the matter.

The police hope that Rathod’s interrogation would help gather more evidence against his one-time neighbour and co-accused Vicky Goswami - husband of former actress Mamta Kulkarni. Goswami, out on bail in Kenya, was deported to the US on Sunday, making it “highly improbable” for India to get his custody even as they are in the process of filing a chargesheet against him. The fate of Mamta Kulkarni, also named an accused in the case, could also depend on what Rathod tells the police about her alleged role.

An officer said that Goswami was extradited to the US on Sunday after their Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA) picked him up from a golf course in Kenya along with three others. “While our officers will get in touch with the US authorities, we are not hopeful of getting Goswami to India any time soon. He will now face trial for a narcotics smuggling case registered against him there. Normally, prison terms in the US for this are pretty severe and if convicted, it will be years before Goswami is released,” a senior officer said. He added, “ We are, however, in touch with the DEA authorities to get some time to interrogate him in the US.” The police will also move an application before a local court to allow them to file a chargesheet against Goswami in his absence this week.

When contacted, Goswami’s sister Ritaben said she did



not want to say anything. A lawyer defending Goswami said that the US DEA officials had detained Kulkarni and recorded her statement before his extradition. “She is currently in Mombassa,” the lawyer said.

Thane police commissioner Param Bir Singh said they had formally arrested Rathod on Wednesday in connection with his role in the case. Rathod, son of a former Gujarat legislator, was earlier in the custody of the Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) “He is the kingpin of the case. He was the one who introduced Vicky Goswami, his one-time neighbour in Gujarat, to another accused Manoj Jain. Jain was one of the directors of the Solapur-based Avon Lifesciences, from where Ephedrine was illegally diverted to produce narcotics. Without him, the network would not have been formed,” Singh said.

An officer linked to the case said that during his initial interrogation, Rathod has claimed that he knew Jain was in need of a financier for his company, which was going through a financial crisis. He claimed that he knew Goswami and thought he would be able to help. “We suspect he is just trying to absolve himself by blaming others and will interrogate him further,” the officer said. The police have his custody till February 6.

The police’s case is that the accused had planned to use Ephedrine, a controlled substance, from Avon Lifesciences Limited to cook party drug Meth. The Ephedrine from the Solapur firm was to be diverted to Kenya, where it would be used to make Meth that was to be sold in the US.