Chennai: A Uttar Pradesh man, who had resigned his lucrative software engineer job in the city and resorted to selling synthetic psychiatric drugs, was arrested by the police in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The arrested person, Nikhil Tiwari (32) of Uttar Pradesh and an M.Sc. computer science graduate, was employed in an IT firm in Guindy Industrial Estate. “Nikhil, who is himself a drug addict, got acquainted with the network that supplies drugs, and started importing drugs from foreign countries to sell in Chennai,” the police said.
The special team under Adyar Deputy Commissioner Sashank Sai had received secret information regarding the drug ‘business’ in the city and found out about Nikhil, staying in a rented accommodation in Rajaji Nagar in Tiruvanmiyur. “He used to source drugs from foreign countries such as the Netherlands, Afghanistan and others by ordering through certain dark websites. He paid in cryptocurrencies for his goods in a way to escape from tracking,” the police said.
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in the shape of stamp papers, ecstasy tablets and Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), all synthetic, drugs, worth '3 lakh seized from Nikhil’s house.
The police added that he had received many shipments through couriers, parcel services and are trying to ascertain the network he is being a part of. “As he was a former software engineer, his preferred customers are software engineers and college students in the city who are susceptible for drugs,” the police said.
Nikhil Tiwari was arrested and sent to judicial remand. Meanwhile, the police are trying to determine and nab the entire drug network operating in the city.
