In a major ganja haul, a police team led by Kattappana sub-inspector T.D. Sunilkumar, seized 13 kg ganja and arrested three persons from Pushpagiri tower area, near Thankamani, in the early hours of Thursday.
Those arrested are Thankachan, 50, Ayyappanparambil House, Perumthotty, near Thopramkudy; Saji, 33, Thekkel Kosappally House, Pushpagiri; and Varghese, 40, Salomil House, Pushpagiri.
The arrest was made at 2 a.m. while they were waiting to hand over the contraband to be delivered to Palakkad.
Mr. Sunilkumar said Thankachan was the key member of the gang and was involved in many abkari cases. He was on bail after being arrested by the Excise Department recently. He had a network of agents to distribute narcotics in schools, hostels and colleges in the State, the police said.
The arrest was made following a tip-off, said Mr. Sunilkumar adding that they were tracing the gang for the past one month. On interrogation, the accused told the police that the cannabis had been delivered to them from Andhra Pradesh.
The accused were remanded after they were produced before the special court in Thodupuzha.
The Kattappana police had arrested 10 persons and seized nearly 30 kg. of ganja and two vehicles in the past three months after a special squad was formed by District Police Chief Alex M. Varkey under Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kattappana, M.N. Ramesh. In Thursday’s arrest, the police team consisted of Assistant Sub-Inspectors V.J. Thomas, K. Raveendran and Jacob Kurivila and civil police officers Vinod Kumar T., Jayan T.K. and Vijayakumar.
There were Intelligence report that large quantities of ganja had reached Idukki district from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka border to be repacked and distributed in different parts of the State.
