The Tamil Nadu Police have referred 200 ganja peddlers, who have amassed wealth over the years, to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), said Director General of Police C. Sylendra Babu.
Mr. Sylendra Babu told reporters here on Saturday that 18,000 ganja peddlers were arrested in two major drives against ganja smugglers across the State, recently. Several vehicles were also seized.
“As a preventive action, we have frozen bank accounts and seized properties of as many as 2,200 accused. Similarly, 200 of them have been referred to the Enforcement Directorate (for further action),” the DGP said.
The State police have planned to make use of sniffer dogs to identify ganja parcels being stealthily transported through trains. “Two dogs would be used in Chennai and one each in Salem and Coimbatore would be used to sniff out ganja parcels. The dogs are now under training,” the DGP said.
Stressing that police were leaving no stone unturned to prevent ganja smuggling, Mr. Sylendra Babu said the police had arrested accused even by crossing the State borders. “We have arrested accused even in Andhra Pradesh,” he said.
Though ganja smuggling has been controlled, the DGP said the drive against ganja was an on-going process. Awareness programmes among youth were being organised to shun ganja, the major narcotic substance that causes addiction. Usage of other drugs are very negligible, he said.
Loan apps
The DGP cautioned people against using loan apps for borrowing money.
Lenders threaten borrowers after gaining access to all details such as photographs and contacts in the mobile phones of borrowers. “They send abusive messages about the borrowers to their contacts. Similarly, the lenders use morphed photographs of the vulnerable people, showing as if the borrowers are with some women or men. The morphed image looks real, forcing borrowers to take extreme step,” the DGP said.
The police had recently busted a financial fraud, where the tricksters had planned to swindle tens of crores of rupees before Deepavali. “That has been prevented after we arrested them,” he said. They lure people with the promise of higher rates of interest.
He also added that drive against usurious money lenders was under way and many had been arrested under the provisions of Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Charging of Exorbitant Interest Rate Act.
