THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The excise sleuths on Thursday raided a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram where the artists working in a Malayalam movie were staying and seized ganja weighing 16 grams from the room of a stunt man.
The ganja was found concealed inside a box that resembled a dictionary from the room of Maheswar, a stunt man from Tamil Nadu, excise sources said.
The excise sources said they had information about use of drugs by some of the occupants of a hotel near Thycaud Music College. The information received mentioned that a drug peddler, who featured in the excise radar, had visited the hotel to supply the contraband.
Based on this information the sleuths raided the hotel where the artists filming a new Malayalam movie ‘Baby girl’ were staying. Initially the sleuths did not find ganja during examination, but they came across a dictionary -like material, which aroused their curiosity. On checking it, it was found to be a box which could be opened using a key.The excise men managed to get the key from Maheswar and recovered ganja that was concealed inside.
An officer, who was part of the operation, said, they acted on a tip-off. The officer said the artists, including Maheswar, reached the city for shooting four days ago and the seized contraband seemed to be stored for artists’ personal consumption.