The Bengaluru Police on Thursday arrested a resident of Girinagar for allegedly peddling ‘brown sugar’ by passing it off as ‘prasadam.’ The City Market Police arrested Vikram Khileri, a 25-year-old resident of Bengaluru and a native of Rajasthan, who came to the city to work as a construction worker. 

The police said that Vikram Khileri used to transport the brown sugar, which is inferior quality heroin, across Karnataka and to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. He allegedly sent these packages through Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses by paying the bus drivers. 

The City Market Police allegedly received a tip that Vikram Khileri was selling brown sugar. The police set up a decoy operation and contacted Vikram Khileri. When he came to Patnoolpet to deliver the contraband, the police arrested him. They seized 90 gm of heroin, two mobile phones and Rs 6,000 cash. Vikram had allegedly concealed the contraband in a helmet. 

Upon his arrest, the police learned that he used to pack the brown sugar in small ziplock packages, and pack it in cardboard boxes titled “Sai Baba Prasad.” Police said that he either used private courier services or paid KSRTC bus drivers Rs 100 to deliver the contraband. However, the police said that the bus drivers assumed it was prasadam and allegedly had no knowledge that they were transporting contraband. 

Police said that Vikram Khileri came to Bengaluru four years ago and was a construction worker in the city. He allegedly met a drug supplier in the city, after which he too started peddling heroin. Police say that the supplier, a resident of Bengaluru who is a native of Gujarat, allegedly switched off his phone after Vikram’s arrest. The police are trying to track down the supplier. 

Vikram Khileri has been booked under Section 120b (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.