Two ex-students of Govt Polytechnic College in Kochi held in ganja seizure case
KOCHI: Police on Saturday arrested two former students of Government Polytechnic College, Kalamassery, in connection with the ganja seizure case involving students at the college. The accused, Ashique and Shalik, allegedly supplied the ganja to the students. They were taken into custody from their homes in Aluva.
A total of 1.9kg of ganja was seized from the hostel room of Kulathupuzha native Akash, a student at the Government Polytechnic College during a surprise raid on Thursday night.
Additionally, 9.7g of ganja was recovered from the rooms of Adithyan, a native of Haripad and Abhiraj of Karunagapally. Abhiraj is a former SFI leader and college union general secretary.
During interrogation, Akash admitted that the ganja found in his room was supplied by Ashique and Shalik. Both were college dropouts. “Ashique and Shalik have confessed to providing ganja to Akash. They have also given the narcotic substance to other students in small quantities,” said P V Baby, assistant commissioner of police, Thrikkakara.
Police suspect the duo procured the contraband from migrant traffickers who bring ganja from West Bengal and Odisha. Investigations are under way to trace the source. The police are also looking into the involvement of other students in the case.
Akash’s roommate is a KSU leader named Adhil. “We are probing the involvement of two roommates of Akash. They were not present in the room when we carried out the raid. Till now, we could not collect any evidence against them. Once we have the evidence, they would be arraigned as accused,” Baby said.
Akash confessed that he had planned to sell the drugs to other students for Holi celebrations. Following the arrests, the three implicated students were suspended from the college, which has launched an internal probe.
Meanwhile, the incident has led to mudslinging between KSU and SFI on the campus. KSU workers allege that the police granted Abhiraj bail due to his SFI ties, while SFI alleges that KSU’s Adhil was also involved in the crime.
Why are Rajeeve,Riyas silent on ganja seizure: Satheesan
Kochi: The Opposition will speak out when SFI leaders are caught in drug cases, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan has said. Why are ministers P Rajeeve and Mohammad Riyas not commenting on the issue even after SFI state secretary confirmed that the accused are its members? The police action was taken based on a complaint filed by the college principal. The SFI was involved in the drug deals taking place on the campus. Since there are rising cases against SFI leaders in the state, we will definitely speak up, he said in Kochi.
Arrested duo are KSU members, claims SFI state secretary PM Arsho
Kochi: In a Facebook post on Saturday, SFI state secretary P M Arsho said that the two former students of Government Polytechnic College in Kalamassery, who were arrested in a case pertaining to ganja seizure from the college hostel, were KSU activists. He also shared a photograph of Shalik, one of the arrested persons, claiming it was taken during a KSU membership campaign in 2023. Earlier, SFI leader Abhiraj was also arrested following a raid at the college hostel and seizure of 9g of ganja from his room. The SFI suspended his membership following his arrest. Arsho alleged that the Opposition leaders were spewing blatant lies.