MADURAI: A challenge thrown at the Madurai city police landed four ganja peddlers in jail on Tuesday. A few weeks ago, the suspects, native of Madurai and Thoothukudi districts and residing in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, allegedly said the police force in Tamil Nadu cannot catch them.
Explaining the operation, a police inspector said the city police arrested a gang and seized around 2,000 kg on May 10, following which they were in search of one more accused, P Jeyakumar alias JK (35), who is wanted in 26 cases including seven ganja cases.
"JK, along with with M Ratha alias Rathakrishnan (32) and G Sivakumar alias Vaalapala Sivakumar (38) challenged the department which triggered the police personnel to nab them. A special team, formed by city commissioner of police KS Narenthiran Nayar, went to Malkangiri of Odisha and nabbed JK. Subsequently, Rathakrishnan, Sivakumar and another peddler Josh were arrested from Andhra Pradesh. A few more suspects are still absconding. They will be arrested soon," said the police.
A police source said the suspects were not using mobile data for social media calls but a modem-based internet to avoid getting caught. "The city police also noticed they had done international transactions. The department will write a letter to the Income Tax department about them," they added. Commissioner Nayar appreciated Thilagar Thidal AC Mahesh, Inspectors G Pethuraj, Boominathan, K Kasi and Murugan for the operation.