Ganja dealers shot at, arrested

The Whitefield division police opened fire at two drug peddlers at Borewell Junction near HAL in east Bengaluru when they assaulted the policemen in a bid to escape on Tuesday evening.

The drug peddlers, Syed and Sadiq Shariff, were shot in their legs when they attacked police inspector Sadiq Pasha, sub-inspector Guruprasad and police constable Ravishankar when they went to arrest them around 6.30 pm.

The police seized 2 kg of ganja concealed in Lays and Kurkure packets and also seized daggers and machetes with which the accused assaulted the police. The injured sub-inspector and constable have been admitted to Sakra Hospital while the two accused are being treated at Bowring Hospital.

The Whitefield police, on Independence Day, started an anti-narcotics campaign which was inaugurated at the Forum Value Mall and placed “Blind Boxes” to receive information about drug sale and consumption from members of the public. The police had information that more than a thousand students and techies abuse drugs in and around the area and wanted to bust the gang. They kept an eye on people who travelled often from Andhra Pradesh to the city.

Recently, based on a tip-off, the police arrested Nagaraj (68) and Shahjahan (30) of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh and seized 3 kg of marijuana.

Based on their statements, the police picked up eight others and while interrogating them, they learnt that Nagaraj used to buy marijuana from its growers in his village and used to sell it to his associate Shahjahan. Shahjahan used to pack them into Lays and Kurkure packets and peddle them to Syed and Sadiq Shariff. The duo used to sell them to students and techies through eight of their associates, the police said.

“Upon further interrogation, the accused gave information about Syed and Sadiq Shariff, who were roaming on a Pulsar bike at the Borewell Junction near HAL,” said Abdul Ahad, DCP Whitefield division.