Mom helps nab peddler who sold drugs to her daughter

Mumbai: A mother of a teenaged girl helped the police nab a drug peddler who was selling drugs to her daughter. The woman acted quickly and contacted an NGO after she chanced upon a conversation between the dealer and the girl, in which they had decided to meet outside a college in Andheri (West) and complete the deal.  

The NGO worker helped lay the trap and take the man to the D N Nagar police. The 16-year-old girl is a student of a city college. On Wednesday, when the girl had gone to take a bath, her mother happened to see her mobile phone.

She was shocked to see a WhatsApp conversation with a man named Raghib, with whom the girl had been talking of buying meth, MD and marijuana. According to the police, Raghib came in touch with the girl through Facebook. When the duo exchanged numbers, they started chatting on WhatsApp. The girl has consumed drugs thrice in the past.

The deal:
In the conversation, the girl asked the dealer to bring the drugs for her and two of her friends. The dealer told her it would cost a little more than Rs 1 lakh. When the girl said she didn’t have the money, Raghib told her he would give her the drugs for free, if she and her friends agreed to spend a night with him.

Later, it was decided to let the transaction remain a monetary one. “I came in contact with him through friends. We were supposed to take the drugs inside the college where a festival was going on. The peddler asked me to meet him outside the college to hand over the package,” the girl said.

After the mother read the entire conversation, she contacted Nida Rashid, who runs Mahila Vikas Samiti, an NGO.

 Rashid said,“I decided to nab this gang that targets students. I told the mother to keep the cash in a cupboard and leave the door open . In the afternoon, the girl took the money and left for the festival in the evening.

We followed her there.” The girl came out of the college and stood near Azad Nagar Metro station, where the peddler met her. The NGO worker, who was waiting there with a group of people, caught him red-handed and thrashed him.

However, this person turned out to be a delivery man. Raghib himself had not shown up. The man, who claimed his name was Sunil Sharma and that he was a struggling actor, was then taken to the D N Nagar police “We registered a case under relevant sections of the Narcotics Act,” said a police officer. Police recovered 18 packets of MD from his person.

Police believe Raghib has many college students as his customers. The teen confirmed that Raghib himself is a student, and had many of her friends and several other students as customers.

Identifying targets:
“The accused looks out for girls and other students on Facebook who post a lot of pictures of their parties. He sends them friend requests, and later, they exchange numbers and chat on WhatsApp. The youngsters say this drug gives them a lot of energy and takes them to another world.

This drug can take your life. A few such cases have already been seen in the city,” Rashid added. She further said the dealer shows the students pictures of celebrities consuming drugs, attaching to it a status symbol. He also tells them it is a “pure Russian” drug.

(Inputs from agencies)