For the last one month, the Varthur police went undercover and worked as tea and cigarette vendors at Carmelaram and Hosur railway stations to catch a gang from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha that was peddling marijuana. Their patience was rewarded as they arrested three men on Wednesday and Thursday.
“We knew that they would arrive at these stations to give their consignments to their contacts in the city. We deputed teams to sell tea and even cigarettes to passengers while waiting for the gang to turn up. Though sale of cigarettes is banned in stations, it would have been suspicious if our undercover vendors didn’t sell them on the sly. We had to it otherwise our cover would have been blown,” said Inspector G. Praveen Babu. “Many people thought we were selling drugs and would ask us for marijuana,” he added.
On Thursday, the police caught Ratnakar Sahu, 41, and Pankal Digal, 45, from Odisha at Carmelaram station and recovered 20 kg of marijuana concealed in chocolate boxes. They got down from the train and were waiting to make the delivery when they were nabbed.
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Earlier, another team had arrested Shivakumar, 34, from Andhra Pradesh at Hosur railway station with 10 kg of marijuana concealed in boxes of fruits and vegetables.
The accused would travel in the general compartment to avoid police scrutiny.
“They sell the drug to their local contacts at the rate of ₹10,000 per kg. The marijuana would then be sold to local consumers, including software engineers and students residing in and around Whitefield,” Babu added.
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The operation began six months ago when the police caught a drug addict who promised to take them to the source of the drug peddling in the area.
Whitefield DCP Anucheth M.N. appreciated the efforts of the Varthur police.