The Madurai district police on Tuesday seized documents in respect of 19 immovable assets, valued at ₹5.5 crore, of a ganja peddler in Madurai.
T. Kalai, of Kamarajar Salai, his wife Perumayee and relative S. Ayyar were arrested by the Othakadai police in connection with the seizure of 170 kg of ganja in November 2021. Among the assets seized were parcels of farmland, residential plots, houses and multi-storey buildings.
"All these properties have been bought by the accused in the last six years," Inspector-General of Police (South Zone) Asra Garg said. He said Kalai had been smuggling and selling ganja in the last three decades, and was booked in around 15 cases.
Senior police officers, including Deputy Inspector-General of Police R. Ponni and Superintendent of Police (Madurai) R. Shiva Prasad, monitored the financial investigation done by a team of police officers under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotrophic Substances Act.
The officers did a long-drawn investigation to identify the properties of the accused and their legitimate sources of income in the last six years, Mr. Garg said. After verification of bank account details and income tax returns, the officers found these properties were bought “through the proceeds of ganja sale”.
The competent authority would be informed of the order of seizure under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotrophic Substances Act for approval. Once the approval came in, the assets could not be sold until a court of law disposed of the cases, Mr. Garg said.
