Chennai, August 18 (BPNS)
The Chennai City police are on high alert after a city-based drug peddling gang hacked to death a local AIADMK functionary on Monday late night on doubts that he was tipping off the police on their narcotic business.
The deceased identified as Silambarasan, 32 was the Unit secretary of AIADMK at MGR Nagar in Sholavaram, Chennai and was attacked by a machete-wielding gang of four while he was standing in front of his residence on Monday late night.
Two of the four-member gang, Tamilselvan 22 and Ranjithkumar of the same locality surrendered before the police and deposed that they had hacked him to death as he was regularly tipping police on their narcotic business.
After the murder of Silambarasan, the Anti narcotic cell of the City police swung into action and have commenced cracking down on middlemen who were engaged in the sale of ‘ganja’ and other narcotic substances. Police are using the database it had on history sheeters who were involved in the trade of drugs in the city and adjoining areas of Kancheepuram and Chengalpetu.
The police have rounded up several people who are in the sale of drugs and who had a previous history of sale of narcotic substances.
A senior official of the Anti narcotic cell of Chennai City police while speaking to BPNS said, “There was a lull in the sale of substance during the lockdown as people were not going out of their homes. Once lockdowns were lifted the narcotic traders have also spread their wings. We are on regular alert and arrest the traders and agents but after this murder, the police have conducted raids at several places in the city and rounded up many people.”
Police said that they are on the crackdown of the primary source of the drug and mostly the peddlers procure it from Andhra Pradesh and sell in small packets in city limits.
With all the Medical colleges in the state of Tamil Nadu open and schools for higher classes open from September 1, the home department wants to crack down on all peddlers. The murder of Silambarasan had led to an immediate crackdown by the police on the peddlers and agents.
