Mangalore: Police on war-footing against drug menace - raid operation across city
Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (BG)
Mangalore, Feb 6: Stepping up its efforts to root out drug menace in the city, police teams in a swift operation raided several parts of Mangalore on Wednesday February 6 evening.
The raids were conducted in the wake of the recent case of suicide by Sneha, a student who was said to be addicted to drugs.
Squads from different police stations raided shops, hotels, bars and lodges in various parts of the city.
A team led by ACP Jagannath and inspector Diwakar of Pandeshwar police raided two shops near Valencia on receiving a tip-off that the shops were supplying ganja.
Shops near Sharada Vidyalaya College were raided by the Kadri police, while Bunder police led by inspector Manjunath raided hotels and cafes in Gold Finch.
The Bunder police also raided Samruddhi lodge near Market Road.
Raid operations were carried out in several other parts of the city too. Unconfirmed sources said that five teams were formed by Kadri police alone.
The exact number of raids is not yet known. However, nothing illegal was found in any of the places, sources said.
An eyewitness said that at one of the places, some people escaped from a rear door as soon as they heard the police arrive. Though it was claimed that the place had been shut down, the police reportedly found the air conditioner on and fresh cigarettes and juice straws at the spot.
One of the police officials who was part of the raid operation said that police targetted places about which they had received complaints, or those which seemed suspicious.
He further said that given the recent case of suicide due to drug addiction and calls from various quarters to root out the menace, these places might have anticipated the raids and taken extra precautions. Hence, the police had to return empty-handed.