PUNE, May 11 -- Wagholi police busted a gang allegedly preparing to establish a mephedrone (MD) drug manufacturing unit in rural areas around Pune and seized drugs, luxury vehicles and other property collectively worth Rs.1.16 crore. While two individuals had been held earlier in the investigation, six additional suspects were arrested on Saturday, bringing the total number arrested to eight. The case came to light on April 16 when police intercepted two accused near Jogeshwari Weighbridge on Theur Road at Kesnand and found them in possession of 5.5 grams of MD drugs worth Rs. 1.10 lakh. The arrested accused were identified as Anis Sayyed, 28, a resident of Manjari Budruk, and Hari Uttam Ufade, 35, a resident of Wagholi. Based on the seizure, police registered a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Wagholi police station. During the investigation, police uncovered a larger drug syndicate allegedly operated by Sumit Ashok Ghule, 41, Pratik alias Sonyabapu Hole, 32, and Hrishikesh Ankush alias Ram Yanbhar, 29, who were allegedly involved in supplying and distributing MD drugs across Pune city and nearby rural areas, including Lonikand, Koregaon Bhima, Shirur, Karegaon and Ranjangaon. Police said investigations revealed that gang was preparing to start an MD drug manufacturing factory with help of Vipinkumar Pandit, an accused in an earlier Kurkumbh drug case who had been out on bail since January 2025. Acting on information and technical analysis, police teams tracked down the main accused Sumit Ghule and arrested him from Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Police later arrested Ramniwas Ranuram Bishnoi, 25, from Kharadi and seized 63.62 grams of MD drugs from his possession. Another accused, Akash Ashok Dhawale, 26, from Shirur, was taken into custody from Karegaon, where police recovered 159 grams of MD drugs during interrogation....