Lessee of government land used for mephedrone manufacturing arrested

Bhopal, Oct 24 (PTI) Days after the busting of a huge mephedrone manufacturing unit operating on a plot of industrial land here, police on Thursday arrested the man to whom it had been originally leased by the government.
Jaideep Singh (58), who had illegally sold off the land and who was on the run for nearly three weeks was arrested after the location of his mobile phone was kept under constant surveillance, Katara Hills police station's inspector Brijendra Nigam told PTI.
On October 5, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad and Narcotics Control Bureau raided a factory in Bagroda area here and seized 907 kg of mephedrone or MD, a banned substance, worth Rs 1,814 crore in illicit markets. The unit had the capacity to manufacture 25 kg of MD per day, the ATS claimed.
The drug factory was located about 15 km from Katara Hills police station and 30 km from the Madhya Pradesh police's headquarters. Amit Chaturvedi, Sanyal Baner, Harish Aanjana and Premsukh Patidar were arrested in the case.
Probe found that the 11,000 square feet plot of land where the factory stood had been leased by the MP Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (MPAKVN, now known as MP Industrial Development Corporation) to Jaideep Singh in 2021 for setting up furniture business.
"In 2023, he sold it to S K Singh, who rented it out to Amit Chaturvedi. Jaideep Singh had not informed MPAKVN when selling the land," said inspector Brijendra Nigam.
On October 7, S K Singh was arrested for not informing the MPAKVN and police about renting out the land which is mandatory as per a government order issued in August, the official said.
"Jaideep Singh and S K Singh have been booked under section 223 (disobeying a lawful order issued by a public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita," he added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)