Hyderabad, May 17 -- The Telangana High Court has rejected the bail plea of Vasamsetti Naresh, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the illegal manufacturing of alprazolam, a psychotropic drug, in one of the state's largest narcotics cases1.

Case background

The case dates back to 2016 when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) apprehended the prime accused, Bandaru Hanumanth Reddy, with 132 kg of alprazolam-far exceeding the commercial quantity threshold of 100 grams set under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Reddy had illicitly produced the drug at Venkata Raghava Labs (VRL) in Jinnaram mandal, Medak district, after leasing equipment from the facility. He hired Naresh, who had prior...