Ahilyanagar Police Constable Held in Pune Rural Drug Racket Case
Pune, 23rd January 2026: A police constable attached to the crime branch in Ahilyanagar has been arrested for allegedly supplying a large quantity of the anti-anxiety drug Alprazolam that was seized from four other accused earlier this week, Pune Rural Police said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Shadab Riaz Shaikh, Dnyandev Shinde and Hrushikesh Chitra, all residents of Parner taluka in Ahilyanagar district, Mahesh Gaikwad of Shrigonda, and Shyam Gujar, a constable serving with the Ahilyanagar Crime Branch.
According to Pune Rural Police, the case began after a tip-off that two men were travelling towards Pune on a motorcycle carrying illegal drugs. Acting on the information, a police team set up a checkpoint and intercepted the two suspects in Shirur along the Pune–Ahilyanagar highway late on the night of January 19.
“During the search, we recovered around 700 grams of Alprazolam from the two men. The information had mentioned mephedrone, but the substance turned out to be Alprazolam,” said Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill.
During interrogation, the two accused revealed that a much larger stock of the same drug was stored at a house in Parner. “Based on their inputs, we raided the location and seized more than 10 kg of Alprazolam. Two additional suspects were taken into custody from the spot,” Gill said.
As the questioning progressed, the name of Constable Shyam Gujar surfaced. “All four accused independently stated that the drugs had been supplied to them by Gujar. After verifying the information, we arrested him,” the SP added.
On how the constable procured such a large quantity of the drug, Gill said the police are probing multiple possibilities. “We are examining whether he diverted a portion of drugs that were earlier seized in another case in Ahilyanagar, or whether he obtained them through someone with access to pharmaceutical supply chains,” he said.
Police officials said custodial interrogation of all five accused is underway and further arrests cannot be ruled out as the investigation into the drug network continues.
