In a first of its kind, a woman, an alleged drug-peddler, was on Thursday booked under the Goonda Act by the city police.
According to the police, Farida Shafiulla (55), a resident of Shariff Nagar in Yeshwantpur, has been named in over 10 cases. She used to receive marijuana from her contacts in Bihar and other parts of the country, and sell it here through her sons Mubarak and Jamsheed. Her customers included college students, the police said.
The Yeshwantpur police had booked her under the Narcotics Act for the first time in 2004.
However, she managed to get out on bail and resumed her business, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) T.R. Suresh said. As she did not stop peddling drugs even after being booked in several cases, the jurisdictional police submitted a report to Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi, who issued directions to arrest her under the Goonda Act. “This is the first time the Goonda Act has been invoked against a woman,” Additional Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar said.
Farida is among 12 persons booked under the Act and remanded in judicial custody for a year without bail.
