MANGALURU: The city police have arrested four persons and seized ganja and charas in two separate cases. The sleuths from the CEN police station in Mangaluru arrested three persons on Thursday, on the charges of procuring charas and ganja from Himachal Pradesh, and selling it to students and the public in Mangaluru. The arrested accused are Suketh Kava alias Chukki,33, from Bajagoli in Karkala, a tour guide, Aravind K,24, a costume designer from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Sunil,32, a car driver, from Pulkeri in Karkala.
City police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said on Friday, that the accused would procure ganja grown in around 300 villages in Parvati Valley at Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, and charas prepared from ganja from locals at a low price, in the guise of being trekkers, guides and tourists. They would then travel back in a train, and sell the same in the city. Based on a tip-off, the CEN police, after tracking the movements of the accused for a while, conducted a raid, and seized 500g of charas and 1kg of ganja. The police have also seized a car and mobile phones. The total value of the seized items is approximately Rs 8 lakh.
10kg ganja seized, man held
Based on reliable information, a CCB team led by police inspector Shyam Sundar HM arrested a person and seized 10.2 kg of ganja on Friday.
The police received information that the ganja was being transported in a car near Kuntikana. The ganja was allegedly procured from Andhra Pradesh, and brought to Mangaluru through Bengaluru. The accused is Vijay Kumar Shetty,24, from NR Pura in Chikkamagaluru. The value of the seized ganja is an approximately Rs 2.6 lakh. The police have also seized a car, mobile phone and Rs 500. The total value of the seized items is Rs 5.6 lakh. A case has been registered at the Urwa police station. The accused was involved in ganja peddling cases registered in Chikkamagaluru and Udupi districts. He was released from jail about three months ago, police said.
The commissioner said that the police have adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards narcotics, to end the drug menace. This is an attempt to protect Mangaluru’s brand as an education hub. In the last 10 days, about 100kg of ganja has been seized, in about six cases registered in the CCB, CEN, Mangaluru East and Konaje police stations, and more than 20 accused have been nabbed this year.