KOCHI: To curb drug smuggling in the district, the Ernakulam Rural police have devised a new plan -- attach the properties of peddlers. The police department has decided to attach both the movable and immovable properties of the offenders, said an officer. On Friday, the police attached the properties of six people arrested in connection with the seizure of ganja and hashish oil kept in a car in the parking area of a flat used by the gang in Karayamparambu in the first week of March.
Two cars and a bike belonging to the first accused, Mohammed Saheer; two cars and Rs 8 lakh in cash of the third accused, Abdul Jabbar; a five-cent plot valued at around Rs 29 lakh, a car and Rs 50,000 belonging to the seventh accused, Abhish; a bike and Rs 30,000 belonging to the eighth accused, Aneesh, and Rs 30,000 in the bank account of the tenth accused, Seema, were attached, said the officer.
DIG Neeraj Kumar Gupta is learnt to have issued a direction to Ernakulam Rural SP K Karthick to attach the properties of others involved in similar crimes under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The police have already seized around 10 vehicles in connection with the case.
“A person involved in drug peddling is risking their family too, as their income can be confiscated under the NDPS Act. Sections 68A to Z of the NDPS Act provide the conditions under which properties may be attached. We have already started attaching the properties of such accused, and the process will continue,” Karthick said.
The Rural police have already set up a team consisting of 25 officers to initiate measures to attach the properties of the accused in the district. “Attaching the property of an accused arrested under the NDPS Act is a herculean task. Along with law enforcement, the police have to identify the movable and immovable properties of the accused persons. The officers have to do some clerical work to complete the attachment procedure,” Karthick added.
It is learnt that the police are also preparing a list of accused persons who have already been arrested for drug trafficking.“We have arrested several people with drugs. Though some of them are jailed, we have started the procedure to attach their properties under the NDPS Act,” said another officer. Over the past one and a half years, the Ernakulam Rural police have seized around 800kg of ganja and arrested over 70 people in connection with the crime.
Huge haul
Over the past one-and-a-half years, the Ernakulam Rural police have seized around 800kg of ganja and arrested over 70 people.