In a major haul, the Perumbavoor police seized 4 kg of ganja from a couple who were using the front of a stall for serving tea and chewing tobacco at Manjapetty.

The arrested couple were identified as Shukoor Ali Sheikh, 28, and wife Beeyootti Beevi, 31, of West Bengal. They had rented a building near Canalkavala area and had been living and running the shop out of it for over a year.

Tip-off

They were being watched after the district police chief (Ernakulam Rural) Rahul R. Nair received a tip-off from local residents after noticing that their place was being visited by students and youngsters in the area during odd times for the past three months.

The accused were arrested by the District Anti-Narcotic Special Action Force comprising Baiju Paulose, Inspector of Police, Perumbavoor; Sub Inspectors P.A. Faizal, T.M. Soofy, Meenakumari; Assistant Sub Inspectors Rajendran, Sasi, Shaji and Nissar. M.J. Sojan, DySP, Narcotic Cell (Ernakulam Rural), and G. Venu, DySP, Perumbavoor, coordinated the operation.

The team identified the place where the contraband was stashed and made the arrest after sustained surveillance.

The couple had sourced high quality ganja from Murshidabad in West Bengal when they visited home and also through their friends back there who visited them here.

Two children of the accused, aged 9 and 13, have been placed under the care of the Child Welfare Committee.

The local residents turned against the couple when they expanded their clientele beyond migrants and started selling to students and youngsters in the locality.