Rajkot: Kutch East police seized movable and immovable properties worth Rs 22.31 lakh belonging to a man accused in a narcotics case, with the authorities saying this is the first such action in a drugs case.Gandhidham police had sent a proposal to the competent authority and administration in Mumbai, seeking to seize the accused’s property under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976. This is the statutory body empowered to handle tracing, freezing, seizure and forfeiture of illegally acquired property. Police acted after they received approval from the authority.The properties are linked to Pintu Vedanand alias Bedanand Yadav, a native of Bihar who lived in Gandhidham and is currently in judicial custody at Galpadar district jail. The seizure order was issued on Aug 3 by the competent authority under Sections 68-I and 68-U of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, according to a statement from Kutch East police.The assets include a house at Varsamedi village in Anjar taluka, worth Rs 15 lakh and registered in the name of Yadav’s wife, Usha Devi. Three vehicles registered in Yadav’s name — a car valued at Rs 6.25 lakh, a motorcycle worth Rs 54,000 and a scooter worth Rs 52,000 — have also been seized.Police alleged that the assets had been bought with income generated through the trafficking and sale of narcotics.Sagar Bagmar, superintendent of police, Kutch East, said, “We had sent a proposal for their seizure to the competent authority on Jan 20. The authority subsequently gave the accused an opportunity to establish that the assets had been acquired through legitimate income.”Police produced evidence showing the properties were bought from the proceeds of crime while the accused failed to prove a lawful source of funds at the hearings.Police said Yadav has been accused in four NDPS cases registered in Gandhidham and Anjar since 2019. These include two cases registered by Gandhidham A Division police in June 2019 involving around 1.46kg and 1.57kg of cannabis respectively, and an Anjar police case from May 2022 involving 3.53kg of cannabis.The latest case was registered at Gandhidham B Division police station in Feb 2025 after the seizure of 140.6kg of cannabis, valued at Rs 14.06 lakh. Yadav was also detained under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in Oct 2020 and sent to Junagadh jail, the police stated.
