3 Drug dealers nabbed in Udupi

Photo Courtesy: Superintendant Of Police, Udupi

Udupi: On Jul 29th, the Udupi Police nabbed three persons in the possession of ‘ganja’ (marijuana) in a commendable move towards crime reduction. The three people arrested were Nityananda (34) from Sarlakittu, Sunil Sherigeri (34) from Alevoor, and Imtiaz (27).

With the arrest, 2.5 kgs of the illegal drug has also been seized. A few days prior to the arrest, three others in possession of 2 kgs of the same drug, were also taken into custody. Two of them were from Manipal itself. They have all been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and as per the Act and the nature of the offence, they cannot be granted bail.

“The drug peddlers were caught as soon as we got information about their whereabouts. They were all headed towards Manipal, owing to its huge student population and the fact that a lot of students there are addicted to this particular drug,” said Pravin Pawar, the Superintendent of Police, Udupi Police Station.

He had received notification about the peddlers in the form of a tip off about three months ago. In that time, his officers and he carefully planned out an operation that would enable them to nab the hawkers. The behaviour of the detainees was noticed over a period of time, and then they were caught by policemen posing as students who wanted to purchase the drug.

“The drug addiction menace has been in Manipal for a long time, and I made it my first concern as soon as I was transferred here nine months ago, as most of the drug dealers go there from Udupi. We thought of following all the leads we had on the drug dealers and tracking more of them down. However, if we stopped these peddlers, the students would go as far as Goa to get the contraband substances and that would defeat the purpose. So, to combat this deadly habit, we have decided to send them to a rehabilitation facility run by a private doctor, Dr. Bhandari, in Udupi.” he added.

Pawar also said that they have already extracted the names and numbers of all the students who buy drugs from the aforementioned, and have also verified it with their respective colleges. The students and their parents will be informed soon, and the latter will be called to Manipal to attend counseling and rehabilitation along with their children. Whether or not they will have to miss classes or pay for the treatment is yet to be decided.

Sub-Edited by: Kerban Billimoria