Hyderabad: A fatal road accident in Feb has led to Telangana’s EAGLE force unravelling a larger case of drug abuse on the campus of a premier institute in Hyderabad. At least 20 students from this institution are under the police scanner, for alleged violation of the NDPS Act. Police have also written to the college management informing them about the drug menace and seeking their cooperation in rehabilitating the students.The road accident in Feb was reported from Shamirpet, when five students from the institute were returning from a food court on two different bikes. “One bike with three boys hit a transport vehicle. One of them died, while and two others escaped unharmed,” said an EAGLE official, adding, “Recently, we got to know that all five students were under the influence and that the deceased was also in possession of ganja. The weed went missing from him after the accident.“Following a tip-off from a college insider, police initially took two students, who were present at the time of the road accident, into custody and made them undergo a drug test. “One of them tested positive for ganja and the other tested negative. After counselling the abuser, it was found that students bought ganja from another student in the same college,” said an EAGLE official.Based on this, cops started an investigation but kept it discreet to avoid creating panic on the campus. During the preliminary probe, they found that several students were abusing ganja in and around the institute premises.“We subsequently summoned three more students, but all tested negative. At least 14 others — including one from Bangladesh and one from Nepal — whose names came up during the probe are still at large. We are trying to track them down,” the investigator added.‘Anti-drug committees in colleges do not cooperate’Cops, meanwhile, rued the lack of cooperation from anti-drug committees (ADC) in colleges — private and central universities — on such matters. “They don’t share any information about drug abuse on campuses due to fear of the institute’s reputation taking a hit. We have told college managements on numerous occasions that our intention is to nab the drug supplier. We want to help rehabilitate the abusers so that they can quit the addiction and lead better lives,” said an EAGLE official, adding, “Colleges must realise they are putting students’ lives at risk by withholding information.“Along with the current case, cops are also probing the death of a student that occurred on the same campus in Oct 2025. While there was no police complaint as the management claimed the student died after choking on food, cops now suspect it could be a case of drug abuse. “We are probing to ascertain what the real cause of death was,” an official said.
