The Tiruppur City Police, in collaboration with Excise Intelligence officials from Kerala, seized ganja weighing around 190 kg in Tiruppur, and arrested two Kerala natives on charges of smuggling the contraband on Friday.
In a statement, City Commissioner of Police A.G. Babu said the Excise Intelligence officials were checking vehicles at the Walayar check-post in Coimbatore district, based on a tip-off, regarding the transport of a large quantity of ganja to Kerala on Friday morning. The officials observed a mini-truck speeding near the check-post and they followed the vehicle.
The mini-truck entered Tiruppur via Pollachi, following which the Excise Intelligence officials alerted the Tiruppur City Police, Mr. Babu said. The officials, with the help of police personnel, caught the vehicle within the limits of Velampalayam police station and secured two persons, Sivaram alias Vishnu (29) and Jobi Joseph (45), who hailed from Kerala. Having seized the bags containing around 190 kg of ganja along with the mini-truck, the Velampalayam police booked the two under sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The two were remanded in judicial custody on Friday, according to the statement.
Police sources said on Saturday that four persons, including the two accused, were attempting to smuggle the ganja from Andhra Pradesh to Kottayam in Kerala via Tamil Nadu. While Jobi Joseph was driving the mini-truck, the remaining three were travelling closely in a car. The three noticed the Excise Intelligence officials engaging in vehicle check and alerted the truck to take an alternative route.
As the two vehicles entered Tiruppur at around 12.30 p.m. on Friday, the four men allegedly had a quarrel, following which two men fled the scene in the car. Sivaram and Joseph contacted a mutual friend who was working in a private garment company in Sirupooluvapatti for accommodation for them, in the hopes of evading the authorities, sources said.
However, the Excise Intelligence officials secured Joseph around 1.15 p.m. as they traced him through his mobile phone number, and subsequently nabbed Sivaram too. The officials handed over the accused to the Velampalayam police. The case might be transferred to the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau CID (NIB-CID) after due investigation and efforts to arrest the two absconding accused are on, according to the sources.