Mamta Kulkarni involved in drug trade: Police

Thane: Former actress Mamta Kulkarni was today named as a prime accused in a multi-crore drug racket linked to drug baron Vicky Goswami, with Mumbai police claiming that she was actively involved in the illicit activities and would seek her extradition from Kenya. Addressing a press conference here, Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said the statements of a couple arrested in the case and inputs received from the US Drug Enforcement Agency have confirmed Kulkarni was a prime accused in the case. Police have initiated the process for extradition of Kulkarni and Goswami, who are said to be in a relationship and are currently based in Kenya. The first step towards this would be issuance of Red Corner Notice against them through Interpol, the officer said. He said the probe conducted so far reveals that Kulkarni was actively involved in the international racket which was busted two months ago. In all, there were 17 accused in the case, of whom seven were still at large. The remaining 10 were arrested and are now in judicial custody. The drug racket came to light when police seized around 18.5 tonne of ephedrine, worth approximately Rs 2,000 crore, after raiding the premises of Avon Lifesciences Ltd in Maharashtra's Solapur district in April.