In an early morning anti-narcotics operation on September 28, 2024, hundreds of police personnel carried out checks in 40 private hostels, houses and mansions where college students stay, in Kuniamuthur, Sundarapuram and Saravanampatti police station limits
Against the backdrop of rising drug usage among college students, the city police, carried out the search operation, based on inputs obtained from drug-peddlers and seized 100 gm ganja, one gram methamphetamine, four two-wheelers, one LSD stamp, 1.1 kg banned tobacco products, a smoking bottle and zip lock.
Monitored by two Deputy Commissioners of Police, 20 Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors, 250 police personnel, and 70 armed reserve personnel carried out the operation under the supervision of four Assistant Commissioners of Police.
Searches were carried out at 20 locations in Kuniamuthur limits and 10 each in Sundarapuram and Saravanampatti limits.
Two college students were arrested and two cases were registered under sections of NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances), BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita), and COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products) Acts.
Eight persons consisting of four students (including an ex-convict) and four others staying with them have been picked up for questioning, a press release said.
R. Stalin, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Coimbatore North, said there were also drug-peddlers among former students who had moved to Coimbatore from elsewhere in the State to pursue higher education, and continued to stay in the mansions even after completion of their courses.
“We counselled the students against falling prey to drugs. The parents were not aware of the activities of their wards,” Mr. Stalin said.
Colleges, in the first place, ought to rule out criminal antecedents of applicants before admitting them, he emphasised.
A similar operation will be carried out in women’s hostels based on specific inputs by deploying women personnel, Mr. Stalin said.
Published – September 29, 2024 06:57 pm IST