KOCHI: The excise department will hold a counselling session at a public school at Thangalam near Kothamangalam after ganja was recovered from the cabin of a security employee on Saturday night. A team from the excise Kothamangalam unit conducted a search at the cabin of Saju Biju, a native of Pala, who was working as a security guard at the school after receiving a tip-off that he was into ganja peddling activities.
The team arrested five persons while three, including Saju, managed to escape from the site. The investigation team is searching for Saju, Yasin alias Kochery of Nelikuzhy and Thrikkariyoor native Pradeep. The arrested are Vadatupara natives Shafeeq, Asanth, Ashiq and Muneer and Kuthukuzhy native Harikrishnan.
The excise team recovered 140 g of ganja from the security cabin and bike of Yasin. According to Excise Assistant Commissioner B Tennymon, the search was launched following information received by preventive officer K A Niyas that Saju was involved in the sale of ganja among students.
“We have decided to hold a counselling session for all students to find out whether anyone became a target of the gang. It is revealed that Yasin is a known drug peddler in the area. His presence on the school premises is also a cause for concern. We have spoken to school authorities, and they agreed to cooperate with us,” he said.
A surprising fact for the excise team was that CCTV cameras on the school premises and building were found dysfunctional. “It is a reputed school in the Kothamangalam area. There are CCTV cameras in the school, but none of them were functional. If the cameras had worked, we could have checked whether Saju supplied ganja or other drugs to students,” an excise officer said.
Going by the quantity of ganja seized, the accused persons will get bail, but the excise officials have decided to produce them before the court as the contraband was seized from the premises. “Our cyber wing will trace the absconding persons. We also recovered plastic covers in which ganja was sold in small quantities,” an officer said.