Sixth accused held in Kerala college drug bust case
Anuraj, a native of Kollam district and a mechanical engineering student at the college, was taken into custody on Saturday and was formally arrested on Sunday after a detailed round of questioning
Three days after police seized nearly 2 kg of ganja from the men’s hostel rooms of the Government Polytechnic College at Kalamassery in Ernakulam district, a third-year student, who is the prime accused in the case, was arrested on Sunday, officers aware of the matter said.
Anuraj, a native of Kollam district and a mechanical engineering student at the college, was taken into custody on Saturday and was formally arrested on Sunday after a detailed round of questioning, an officer at the Kalamassery police station, where the FIR was registered, said on condition of anonymity.
“He has been booked under sections of the NDPS Act, 1985 for procuring and planning to distribute ganja among college students on the pretext of Holi celebrations on campus. He will be produced before the magistrate and is likely to be remanded in judicial custody,” said the officer.
So far, this is the sixth arrest in the case following the surprise raid by the Kalamassery police on March 13 in the men’s hostel rooms. The raid was conducted based on a letter by the college principal alerting the authorities about possible usage of drugs during Holi celebrations, police said.
During the raid, police said that they seized 1.9kg of ganja from one room and 9.7gm of ganja from another room. Earlier, two students — Adithyan and Abhiraj R — and two former students — Ashique and Shalik — of the college were arrested for their involvement in the use and distribution of drugs. The fifth accused was identified as Abhiraj R, who was a member of the CPM student wing SFI and general secretary of the college union, and was expelled from the outfit after police arrested him in the drugs case. Police also recovered ganja from his room in the hostel, they added.
Police said Anuraj is seen as the key accused in the case as he allegedly used to supply contraband within the hostel. According to preliminary findings, he procured a total of 4kg of ganja, of which 2kg were brought to the college hostel. Other students, arrested in the case so far, have alleged that Anuraj brought the drugs within the hostel premises. His financial transactions are being probed thoroughly, said the officer.
M Sivaprasad, the state president of SFI, on Sunday said that it was an attempt to denigrate the image of the outfit by the Congress and its student wing, KSU.
“The SFI has been leading the fight against drugs across the state. Instead, there are efforts being made by the Congress and KSU to tarnish SFI and release fake news against us. Congress leader VD Satheesan is quick to blame the SFI even before the allegations emerged against us in the media,” said Sivaprasad.
