Chennai cops nab notorious ganja peddler

The arrested, Mari (44), a resident of Pudur in Ashok Nagar, used to sell ganja in the surrounding localities, particularly near Udayam and Kasi theatres. A police source said, “We used a decoy to track him. A police constable under the guise of a customer had been in touch with him over phone for a few days asking for ganja and bargaining over the price. 

Finally, Mari agreed to come with 1.5 kilograms of ganja near a government school in MGR Nagar at 4.30 am on Sunday.” Mari was arrested from the spot. The police seized ganja worth Rs 15,000 from Mari, for which he had quoted Rs 75,000 over the phone. Mari, who lives with his wife and two daughters is also a history-sheeter. There are nine cases pending against him at Kodambakkam, Ashok Nagar, Virugambakkam and K K Nagar police stations. 

“He sells ganja from 6 am to 4 pm. His supplier allegedly lives outside the state and the city police are trying to track him down,” said Sub Inspector Rafeek, who was part of the team which caught Mari.  In an unrelated incident, police arrested three persons, including a woman and her son for possessing ganja at Ernavur in Ennore. 

A police team found the trio roaming near All India Radio Nagar in Ernavur around 2.15 pm on Saturday. The police questioned the trio - Selvazaghi (45), her son Kuppuraj (26) and Padma alias Chinna Munji (37), all residents of Tsunami Colony, regarding their whereabouts and the trio gave contradictory replies. Police then searched their belongings and found 1.5 kilograms of ganja hidden in a bag. The officials seized the contraband, arrested the trio and took them to the station. Further inquiries revealed that they had four cases registered against them for selling ganja.