Chennai: Minor rescued from gang of ganja peddlers

CHENNAI: A police team trailing a gang of ganja peddlers on Saturday nabbed two of them at a house in Selaiyur where it also rescued a 17-year-old girl who had been allegedly detained there and sexually assaulted. The same evening, another team of police personnel nabbed five ganja peddlers of the same gang during a vehicle check near Selaiyur and seized from them two motorbikes, 1.750 kg of ganja, a knife, a country-made gun and a country-made bomb.
The Selaiyur all-women police handed over the girl to the child welfare committee (CWC) officials. She will be sent for medical examination on Monday after getting permission from the court concerned.
The girl told CWC officials that she was a resident of St Thomas Mount. Her mother was mentally ill and her father deserted the family a few months ago, she said, adding that she entered a political party worker's house in Madipakkam as a domestic help.
Later, she said, the political party worker forced her to go the house of G Viswanathan, who police identified as a ganja peddler who went by the alias of Charles. Claiming that he had bought her for 10,000 from the politician, Viswanathan sexually assaulted her repeatedly, police said, quoting from her statement.
Viswanathan's associate P Bharathi, 34, of Tiruvannamalai then attacked and drove Viswanathan out before sexually assaulting the girl, police said, adding that Viswanathan knew Bharathi through a common friend M Hari Prasad, 32, of Pallikaranai.
While Viswanathan and R Nagaraj of Perungudi were nabbed at the Selaiyur house, Bharathi, Hari Prasad, G Yuvaraj, 30, of Pallikaranai, V Keerthirajan, 22, of Madambakkam, and R Manikandan, 33, of Villupuram were nabbed during the vehicle check.
Of those arrested, Bharathi was involved in four criminal cases including one of murder and a case of attempted murder, while Hari Prasad, Yuvaraj and Nagaraj were also facing four cases including two attempted murder cases.
Of the weapons seized, the country bombs was prepared by Bharathi who had tested it in an open space near a hideout, police said. He also bought the country-made gun from a few guest workers, police said.