Army officer’s son arrested for peddling charas in Pune

A former Army officer’s son was arrested by the anti-narcotic cell of the crime branch on Saturday in cannabis peddling charges.

The suspect has been identified as Ravi Ashok Sartape, 24, a resident of Saint Josephnagar in Ghorpadi.

The incident came to light when a constable, RN Jadhav, lodged a complainant against Sartape at Kondhwa police station. Police have recovered 60 grams of cannabis (charas) worth Rs18,000 from him.

Acting on a tip-off from an informer, a team, led by inspector Satish Deore laid a trap at Baker Point, NIBM road in Kondhwa on Saturday night at around 11pm.

Satish Deore, inspector in-charge of the anti-narcotic cell, told DNA, “We had received a tip-off that the suspect was carrying charas in his pant pocket and was coming to Baker’s point for dealing it. Accordingly, we laid a trap and arrested him.

“During interrogation, the suspect revealed that he has been dealing in cannabis for the last one year. He also told that he used to arrange the stuff from Goa, Mumbai and other places.”
On Sunday, Sartape was produced before the court of judicial magistrate first class and has been remanded to police custody till Wednesday.

Assistant public prosecutor, Prakash Gaikwad, said that the suspect had purchased charas from Anjona Resort in Goa and had plans to sell it off to a youth who was a resident of Koregoan Park. Gaikwad said a person named Parera Anthony was also involved.