The Excise special squad on Thursday chased down, wrestled into submission, and arrested a four-member gang reportedly with 4 kg of ganja on Container Terminal Road at Kalamassery.
The arrested are Rafid, 27, of Tirur in Malappuram and his aides Anoop, 27, of Puthur in Malappuram; Yasir, 31, of Tirur, and Anwar, 37, of Kuttayi in Malappuram. Officials also took their car into custody. According to Excise officials, the gang, which went by the name Highway Stuff Thugs, operated along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The arrest was made under Operation Visudhi, an initiative of the Excise Department.
Excise sleuths lay in wait for the gang on Container Terminal Road on intelligence gathered by the Narcotic Top Secret Group. However, on sighting the officials, the gang sped off, after which officials gave them a chase and stopped them on their tracks. Officials had to wrestle the gang into submission when the latter put up a stiff resistance.
Officials said contract gangs targeting Malayali carriers of hawala money and drugs were active along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The groups that sell the stuff to such carriers leak details about their clients to the contract gangs. That the victims cannot approach the police even if attacked embolden the gangs.
Excise managed to arrest the four-member gang after they zeroed in on the registration number of the vehicle based on information provided by those who had fallen victim to the gang before. The arrested were slapped with charges for smuggling ganja and conspiracy entailing imprisonment up to 10 years.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of Dy. Excise Commissioner A.S. Ranjith and Assistant Commissioner Sajith Kumar. A team led by Inspector P. Sreeraj and comprising preventive officers Ram Prasad, George Joseph, and P.L. George, civil excise officers M.M. Arunkumar, Sidharthan, and Vipin Das made the arrest.
