196 kg ganja seized, retired Tahsildar being questioned

M Mahesh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rameswaram, said that the contraband was hoarded in a room at the grove to be smuggled to the island nation via sea. The grove belonged to Jeyakumar, a retired Tahsildar, who has been picked up for interrogation in connection with the seizure.

Acting on a tip off, a team led by Rameswaram Deputy Superintendent of Police, conducted searches in the room at the grove on Ariyaman beach road and recovered 196 kg of ganja. The seized ganja was stuffed in 98 packets and the entire consignment was wrapped in papers. Each packet weighed two kg. The case was later handed over to the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau (NIB) for further action.

Since the quantity of the seized contraband was huge, the case was handed over to the NIB, the Deputy Superintendent of Police added. As per instructions of Ramanathapuram Superintendent of Police, patrolling has been intensified to prevent attempts to smuggle contraband and other items to the island nation. Over the last one year, seven such cases of contraband seizure have been reported. Most of the cases were related to attempts to smuggle ganja to Sri Lanka and key points were Mandapam and Uchipuli in the district. Seven vehicles which were used for transporting the contraband were also seized in those cases.