3 from AP held with 19 kg ganja

The Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissionerate's initiative to include 10 citizens each in 70 beats is yielding results, and with the help of such informers, Bendigeri police on Tuesday arrested three persons from Vishakhapattanam district in Andhra Pradesh, and recovered 19 kg and 800 gm of ganja worth over Rs two lakh, which was meant to be sold to distributors in the City.

The arrested have been identified as Naresh Pangi (22), Nagesh Killo (19), and Matyaraju Korra (25). They transported ganja in after-shave lotion packets, by train, police said.

Last month also a person with 16 kg ganja was arrested, and Police Commissioner M N Nagaraj has announced Rs 10,000 each reward for both the police teams.

"Ganja comes from different states and districts, and we have spoken to police there to stop ganja supply at source so that Hubballi-Dharwad can be made ganja-free city," Nagaraj said.

"Special police team is formed to check drug abuse, while CID narcotics section officials would be invited to create awareness among college students, while a rally would also be conducted. Police officials would also visit colleges, though no drug abuse case in colleges is found so far," he said, adding that stringent action would be taken against those involved in ganja case, and some local suppliers of ganja would also be arrested soon.