The police have busted a drug racket that was running from a building of a private school in Hyderabad and arrested three persons, including its director.
Malela Jaya Prakash Goud, the director of the Medha School, secretly converted classrooms and restricted areas into a facility to produce Alprazolam, a banned narcotic substance used in the adulteration of toddy.
The Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) team of Telangana Police found a chemistry lab fitted with eight reactors and dryers used for large-scale drug production.
Goud learned the drug-making process from an associate named Guruvareddy and sold the contraband to toddy depots in Mahabubnagar, officials said.
The police recovered over 7 kg of Alprazolam, Rs 21 lakh in cash, large quantities of raw chemicals, and manufacturing equipment.
The operations at the unit had been going on for about six months. Goud allegedly ran the unit six days a week and arranged deliveries on Sundays.
While school classes were being conducted in the ground and first floors of the building, the unit was located on the second floor.
Goud and his two aides have been arrested.