Crackdown on peddlers: 46 held in 15 days

In South Chennai, police have arrested 37 persons in 19 different cases this month till Saturday, from whom 29.5 kg ganja, Rs 81,010 in cash, nine two-wheelers, three autorickshaws, five mobile phones and two weighing machines were seized.

In the east zone, nine persons were arrested in four cases and 5.45 kg was seized from them. Among the suspects, 13 were arrested on Saturday from three different places.

On Saturday night, MGR Nagar police detained a duo – Gowthaman and Dharshan – near a Tasmac bar in Nesapakkam for selling ganja. Based on their inputs, a house in Vadapalani was searched from where 1 kg ganja was seized. A woman living in the house identified as Rajeshwari was picked up for interrogation. Based on the information she provided, her partners Nagammal, Lakshmi and Kumar were also picked up.

After they told police that they received the contraband from one Kothandam in Tiruvottiyur, his house was raided and 10 kg ganja was seized. All seven persons were remanded in judicial custody.

Similarly, Pallavaram police have arrested five persons for allegedly selling ganja to college students in the locality and seized 3.7 kg ganja from them.

They were identified as R Abinesh (24) of West Tambaram, P Yogesh (23) of Tambaram, T Aravindhan (26) and R Kalidas (36) of Ennore, and T Bharatkumar (24) of Ernavur. Meanwhile, Tambaram police arrested G Thirumoorthy (20) of West Tambaram and seized 150 gram ganja. All six men were remanded in judicial custody. Police said that the crackdown on ganja peddlers would continue in the coming days.