Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SB)
Mangaluru, Oct 12: District in-charge minister Ramanath Rai on Thursday October 12 denied that drug mafia was rampant in the district and said that as compared to Bengaluru and other major cities, drug menace in Dakshina Kannada was relatively lesser and under control. He also asserted that there was drug mafia had nothing to do with the murder of Zubair at Mukkacheri recently.
Addressing a press meet at the Circuit House here, Rai said, "Drug mafia in the district is not as bad as in Bengaluru and other big cities. It has not grown much in our district. Our police department is putting in all efforts to curb the menace, and presently it is under control.
"A special police station is operating in the district to control drug mafia. It also creates awareness about drugs like ganja and discourages their consumption," he added.
He also said that contrary to what was being alleged by the BJP, there was no involvement of drug mafia or ganja consumption in the murder of Zubair. "Zubair was murdered because of an old rivalry. The murderers had consumed alcohol," he said. It may be mentioned here that police have arrested five persons in the case who are said to have harboured personal enmity against Zubair.
In a veiled attack on the BJP, he said, "Some people tried to give communal colour to the murder. Our MP linked drug mafia to politics. I think his party and its administration had links to the drug mafia when they were in power (in the state). But our government and administration do not encourage such things.
"There have been murders of rowdy-sheeters too in the recent past. These murders too were result of old rivalries. The police have already formed special anti-rowdy squads to control such crimes," Rai said.
He further said, "Yesterday (Wednesday October 11) we had a meeting with principals and members of parent-teacher associations of various colleges in the city. The police department gave them several instructions about keeping a watchful eye, and preventing students from consuming drugs and taking other precautionary measures.
Asked to respond to allegations that a majority of the office-bearers of the local Congress committee were involved in criminal cases, Rai said, "It is a baseless allegation. We do not give party positions to criminals. Congress is a disciplined party. There no room for criminals or anti-social elements here."
Addressing the press meet, police commissioner T R Suresh said, "We are closely monitoring criminals who are already booked for ganja peddling. We have arrested many and filed cases against them. With each case, we reach closer to the epicenter of the drugs racket, but in the final stage we encounter a problem when the kingpin changes his location at the last minute with the intention of escaping the law."
He also said that the recent kidnap of a youth at Suratkal was not because of ganja issue. "It was due to an old rivalry. The accused are wanted in previous theft cases," he said.
Cautioning the students against consumption of drugs, the police commissioner said, "Keeping even one gram of ganja in hand is also a crime, and the person is liable to be booked under anti-drug laws. There no excuse to students."
IGP Hemant Nimbalkar, SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy and others were present.