TIRUNELVELI: A jail warden was suspended after the Tirunelveli city police arrested him along with his accomplice for allegedly smuggling ganja in a car on Sunday night.
Police seized 2 kg of ganja and around Rs 10 lakh in cash from the car. The arrested persons are M Tamilarasan (31) from Thoothukudi and V Naveen (25) of Murappanadu.
Tamilarasan is a warden at the Perurani prison in Thoothukudi district. Police sources said they were caught during vehicle checks on the Tirunelveli Town-Courtallam road based on a tip-off. A police team led by Inspector Subramanian intercepted Tamilarasan’s car and found the ganja and cash during a search.
The duo told police that they procured ganja in bulk and sold it in small packets. During interrogation, police found that Tamilarasan had earlier worked at the Palayamkottai Central Prison, where he allegedly came into contact with ganja paddlers including one Dinesh.
Police sources said Tamilarasan smuggled and supplied ganja on the instructions of Dinesh and received lakhs of rupees in return. Dinesh had been arrested by the police a few weeks ago and informed
police about his link with Tamilarasan. Following his arrest, Superintendent of Palayamkottai Central Prison Senthamarai Kannan suspended Tamilarasan.
“A surprise raid by around 50 police personnel was also conducted at the Perurani prison under the supervision of Senthamarai Kannan. The search lasted around two hours; however, no ganja was found,” said an official.