Techies among 14 caught for buying ganja in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, July 13 (IANS) Four IT employees and a student among 14 people were caught by Telangana’s anti-narcotics agency EAGLE during a decoy operation in Hyderabad’s Information Technology corridor Gachibowli as they arrived at a location to buy ganja.

“Bhai Baccha agaya Bhai” was the WhatsApp code given by the peddler to sell ganja (cannabis) and using the same newly created Elite

Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) personnel caught 14 customers within two hours near the HDFC bank.

The customers, all in their 20s, include 4 IT employees, a student, a property manager and a travel agency owner, EAGLE said on Sunday.

The cops were shocked when a couple showed up with their four-year-old child to buy Ganja. Another husband-wife duo also tested positive for drugs.

EAGLE team conducted a drug test on the 14 customers, and they tested positive. They have been sent to a de-addiction centre.

EAGLE had recently apprehended a drug peddler, Sandeep, a native of Maharashtra. They found the contact numbers of Ganja customers in his mobile phone.

Police sent WhatsApp messages to the customers on their phone with the code “Bhai Baccha agaya Bhai”, which was used earlier by the peddler to inform customers about the arrival of the stuff.

This was the second major success of EAGLE in less than a week.

It, along with Cyberabad police, busted a drug supply network operating from a restaurant and arrested six accused on July 7. The arrests were announced on July 9.

Those arrested include key peddler Surya Annamaneni, the owner of Malnadu Restaurant in Kompally. He was allegedly possessing and supplying banned drugs, including cocaine, ecstasy pills and OG weed.

Five businessmen, Yashwanth, Jaswanth, Navadeep, Pawan, and Rahul, were also arrested. All the accused were involved in running restaurants, hotels, or pubs in the city.

Police were on the lookout for 19 other accused, including techies, doctors, upscale pub-owners, those in real estate and F and B business.

According to EAGLE, the arrests unravelled a deep-rooted, transnational drug network involving international suppliers, pub-based consumers, courier delivery of narcotics, and digital financial transactions.

--IANS

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