This UP factory was making rose water. Inside: 1,102.88 kg mephedrone worth Rs 200 crore

Early Thursday morning, the quiet village of Rampura in Jalaun district was shaken by the sound of vehicles passing through. Intrigued, a few locals followed the convoy and witnessed a rose water manufacturing unit, employees dressed in civilian attire entering the premises. The village pradhan, Omkar Pal, later revealed that the factory had recently sprung up on a plot owned by a Shailendra and was operated as a front to conceal the manufacturing of mephedrone, also known as Meow Meow or White Magic.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) raided the premises, seizing 1,102.88 kg of the drug and precursor chemicals, valued at over Rs 200 crore on the international market. Two men, Hemendra Kushwaha, 27, and Santosh, 37, were arrested. The plot owner, Shailendra Singh Pal, 25, remains at large.