EC squad, cops unearth new poll goodie in 'joint' op

Distributing money, liquor, home appliances as election freebies is passe. The new bait seems to be marijuana.

Yes, believe it or not, marijuana packets were all set to reach a section of voters in the city. The shocking incident came to light when the police and election nodal officer’s flying squad raided a house in Anjanappa Garden in Chamarajpet.

The officials found 109 marijuana packets, each weighing 10 to 15 grams, and another 1.8 kg of marijuana ready to be packed. Besides marijuana worth Rs 2.5 lakh, the police also seized Rs 33,270 in cash and bottles of liquor.

Ravi D Channannavar, DCP (West division), said the raids were conducted following specific inputs.

“The information said the accused had stocked marijuana to be distributed to voters. Prima facie we have registered a case that marijuana and liquor were stored for distribution. The accused said they brought marijuana from Ramanagara,” he said.

The police arrested a 28-year-old woman identified as Nandini, a resident of Anjanappa Garden in Cottonpet, and are searching for another accused Pusukutti. During the interrogation, she allegedly confessed to the crime, stating that she had stored the marijuana to appease voters.

Dilip Kumar B O, Election Nodal officer (flying squad), said that around 2.30 pm on March 21, he was asked by the Cottonpet police inspector BG Kumaraswamy to visit Anjanappa Garden based on a tip-off.

As the EC flying squad and police officials barged into the house, Nandini was busy packing marijuana. “We thought she might be drug dealer but along with that we also found hard liquor, beer bottles. The woman confessed they were meant to be distributed to voters,” said Kumar.

Officials refused to reveal the party for which the accused was working for. The area falls under Chamarajpet Assembly Constituency, which is part of Bangalore Central LS constituency. Sitting MP P C Mohan is seeking re-election here. The Congress has fielded MLC Rizwan Arshad while actor Prakash Raj has also thrown his hat into the ring

“Seizure of liquor, home appliances are common but marijuana was shocking,” a police officer said.