MBA graduate 'peddles cannabis' after losing job during Covid-19 lockdown

An MBA graduate fired from job during the lockdown started peddling drugs to make a living, police said. He has been arrested along with an associate.

Peenya police said Tushar Patnaik, 25, of Odisha, and Habib Ullah Khan, 44, from Shamanna Nagar, were arrested when they were trying to sell the contraband near Karle factory in Sarvagnanagar on Wednesday evening. The arrest yielded 4.3 kg of ganja, police added.

Patnaik is an MBA graduate and worked for a private firm in the city for three years before being fired during the lockdown. He was a regular consumer of ganja and procured it from a peddler in Kolar district. After losing the job, he contacted the peddler and purchased a bigger quantity of ganja with an intention to sell it to his trusted customers. He befriended Khan, an auto-rickshaw driver, whose three-wheeler he often hired to commute. The duo went around in the auto looking for customers, police said.