CHENNAI: The photograph of a youth allegedly travelling on Wimco Nagar – Chennai Airport Metro Rail line rolling a ganja cigarette went viral after the image was shared by senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar, who used it to assail Chief Minister MK Stalin for allegedly failing to curb narcotics in the State.

After the matter came to public and official attention, the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd said it has referred the matter to the city police Commissioner for appropriate action.

Posting the photo of the youth rolling the cigarette, known among ganja users as ‘joint’, Jayakumar said it indicated the availability of the drugs and how addicts were posing a challenge to the law and order machinery in the State.

The opposition leader used this to hit out at Chief Minister MK Stalin, who handles the Home portfolio, charging him of indulging in empty campaigns against narcotics instead of taking effective steps to curb the sale of narcotics. “Will he focus on L&O instead of meaningless publicity stunts,” Jayakumar asked.

Speaking to DT Next, the former minister said the picture was taken on the Wimco Nagar- Chennai airport stretch on Thursday. "The pictures were shared with me by a reliable person, who was travelling in the train," he said.

When contacted, a senior official from CMRL said the security checks at stations were primarily intended at detecting explosives, weapons, etc. that can endanger people. “We have referred the matter to Chennai police Commissioner along with available evidence relating to the accused,” the official said.