Raid to hunt down drug cartels

City police launch Operation Bolt to counter perpetrators and goons

Police inspect buses operating on inter State routes from Thiruvananthapuram as part of Operation Bolt against drug traders and peddlers. The operation was launched following the murder of a youth by a gang of drug addicts.

Several persons were netted by the City police in a special drive held on Friday under ‘Operation Bolt’ launched to counter the activities of drug mafias and goons in the wake of increasing incidents of violence and drug-related cases.

In the drive led by District Police Chief, Thiruvananthapuram City, Kori Sanjaykumar Gurudin, covering all police stations, 21 arrested for possession of drugs were booked under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropric Substances Act (NDPS).

In a bid to check the flow of drugs into the capital, the police, assisted by dog squads, checked all classes of motor vehicles entering the city on the Vettu road, near Kazhakuttam, and Pallichal, near Nemom, on National Highway 66.

Barricades

The police kept barricades at these entry points to the capital to slow down vehicles and check them. State road transport corporation buses of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the inter-State luxury buses were also checked.

The luggage and the boot of the inter-State buses used to courier things were checked and suspicious passengers frisked.

Senior police officers and women civil police officers were part of the team that carried out the drive. Mr. Gurudin was assisted by Deputy Commisioner of Police, Law and Order & Traffic, R. Aditya.

In 241 surprise raids and searches carried out by the police personnel, 41 persons were taken into preventive custody and 68 who were evading warrants were caught.

Vehicles checked

As many as 1,250 vehicles were checked in the drive in the City police limits and 422 booked for various offences.

The police officers also visited the houses of those with criminal background in all police station limits to know their whereabouts and to keep track of them.

During the drive, the local police, assisted by the personnel of the shadow police wing, searched vacant houses, parks and lonely areas used by the drug mafias and criminal elements.

Mr. Gurudin said the police would intensify the drive in the forthcoming days to bring to book those indulging in the sale of drugs and involved in criminal activities.