KOCHI: A 21-year-old has been apprehended in connection with the ganja seizure from the men’s hostel of the Kalamassery Government Polytechnic College, taking the total arrests to six. The police nabbed the main accused, Anuraj R, of Karunagappally in Kollam, from Kalamassery on Saturday night. He is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student.
According to the police, Anuraj had collected money to buy ganja ahead of the Holi festival. Nearly 2kg of ganja was seized in the surprise raids held at the Periyar Men’s Hostel on Thursday night. While 1.9kg of ganja was seized from the hostel room of Akash M, 21, a student of the Polytechnic and a native of Kulathupuzha, another 9.7g of cannabis was recovered from the room of Adithyan, of Haripad and Abhiraj, hailing from Karunagappally.
As per the preliminary probe, Anuraj handed over the money to two former students of the college, Ashique, 20, and Shalik K S, 21, who supplied the ganja.
“Four covers with ganja weighing 3.5kg was brought to the hostel to celebrate Holi. We could recover only two covers. The interrogation of the accused is on and attempts are being made to recover the remaining 1.5kg of ganja. Ashique and Shalik, both natives of Purayar, supplied the ganja. They both were sent out of the fourth semester of Automobile Engineering last year as they didn’t have the required attendance to attend the exams,” P V Baby, assistant commission of police, Thrikkakara, told TNIE.
The duo was arrested on Saturday. Cops suspect that they procured the contraband from migrant traffickers smuggling ganja from West Bengal and Odisha.
“We are examining Anuraj’s financial transactions and his connection with drug mafia. Interrogation of the accused revealed that he procured ganja from rackets and supplied them to college students when needed. He is the main link of the drug racket that used to supply ganja and other substances in smaller and bigger quantities. We have intensified the probe to ascertain the sources of the ganja that Ashique and Shalik handed over to Anuraj. The role of more former students of the college who acted as drug peddlers is also being looked into,” sources with the police said.
The police raided the hostel on Thursday night after receiving a tip-off about potential ganja use by students ahead of the Holi celebration on Friday. Following the arrests, the four implicated students were suspended from the college, which launched an internal probe.
The incident has sparked a dispute between the KSU and SFI on campus. KSU members allege that the police granted bail to Abhiraj due to his connections with the SFI, while the SFI claims that KSU member Adhil was also involved in the incident.
In response to the ganja seizure, the police have intensified their efforts against drug-related activities.
A team of officials conducted surprise raids in private hostels and PG accommodations near Cusat on Saturday night, resulting in the arrest of three individuals who were released on bail due to the small quantity of drugs seized.