Man held in ganja case

T’puram: Pettah police arrested a 52-year-old man for allegedly aiding the smuggling of 8.3kg of ganja seized near UPS Junction in the city, taking the total number of accused arrested in the case to two.

The arrested was identified as Madhu K Pillai of Sreevaraham. Police said he was taken into custody following an investigation based on confidential information received by city police commissioner K Karthik. The arrest was made after police received a tip-off.

The ganja was seized during a joint operation carried out by Dansaf team and Pettah police under Operation Toofan, the city police’s anti-narcotics campaign. Earlier, Chintan, 24, a native of Karnataka, was arrested on the day of the seizure while allegedly transporting the contraband.

Police said evidence collected during the probe pointed to Madhu’s involvement in the smuggling racket, leading to his arrest. He was later produced before a court and remanded.

Karthik said surveillance, inspections and investigations against drug trafficking networks have been intensified as part of Operation Toofan. He said more raids and inspections would be conducted in the coming days, and strict action would be taken against those involved in narcotics trafficking. Further investigation is under way.