Drug Racket Powered By Doctors, Gym Trainers In Bhopal Busted, 2 Arrested

A major drug trafficking racket has been busted in Bhopal that had taken root in gyms, clinics, and college campuses. Two key peddlers - Saifuddin and Ashu alias Shahrukh - have been arrested by the Crime Branch. The men have confessed that doctors helped them prescribe designer drug MD (Mephedrone) as a 'treatment' for mental health, while gym trainers pushed it as a fat-burning supplements. 

Young women were especially targetted, told they would get "slim and confident" after using the drug.

The accused - Saifuddin, 28, and Ashu alias Shahrukh, 28, - didn't just sell drugs. 

They designed a system, police say, where doctors, gym trainers, and party promoters worked together to hook young people, turning aspirations for fitness and healing into full-blown drug dependence.

From their possession, the police recovered 15.14 gm of MD powder, a scooty, and an Android cellphone - valued around Rs 3 lakh. 

But the real shocker lies in the network they have revealed: a chilling ecosystem where drugs were pushed as weight-loss solutions, mood boosters, and even prescriptions.

According to the Crime Branch, the accused had turned Bhopal's gyms into gateways of addiction. Fitness-obsessed youth were told the MD powder would "burn fat faster" and "boost energy". Young women, particularly those conscious of their looks, were targeted with promises of getting "slim and confident".

Simultaneously, depression and anxiety patients were being prescribed MD as treatment with the help of rogue doctors involved in the racket.

"They marketed drugs as fitness boosters and mood lifters," said a senior police officer. "In reality, it was a trap - a designer drug masquerading as medicine, pulling kids into a spiral of addiction, sexual exploitation, and crime."

The accused were also regular suppliers at Bhopal's high-end party clubs, where they used girls as honey traps. These girls were offered drugs for free, and in return, tasked with inviting new faces. Once inside, the new recruits were handed free MD to "get the party started".

The plan was simple, but sinister: give free drugs, get them addicted, then sell at premium rates and recruit them into the supply chain.
Boys hooked on the drug were told, "Earn your next dose - bring in more users".

It was multi-level marketing meets narcotics, a chain-marketing model of destruction.

This isn't just a local supply chain - it is a blueprint for urban drug infiltration, where gyms, therapy clinics, social media influencers, and nightclubs merge into a seamless pipeline.

Boys from middle-class families, girls from small towns chasing dreams, and college students looking to 'fit in' - all became targets, many of them now in de-addiction centers, their futures hanging by a thread.

A tip-off led the Crime Branch to Govindpura, where the accused were found waiting near Sabzi Mandi Tin Shed. 

On being surrounded, both men were searched. The result? 15.14 grams of MD powder, an Android phone, and the vehicle - all seized.
Saifuddin, it turns out, was a wanted criminal with a Rs 5,000 reward on his head. Shahrukh, too, had a tainted past - from gambling and alcohol cases to violence charges. Their network, however, stretches far beyond two names.

The arrest is part of a citywide anti-drug initiative launched under the directives of Police Commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra and Addl. Commissioner Pankaj Srivastava.

The police have registered a case under Section 8/22 of the NDPS Act, and interrogation is in progress to zero in on the doctors, gym owners, and club operators involved.