Hyderabad, Eight students were allegedly found to have pooled money for purchasing drugs and three of them involved in peddling ganja were arrested in Warangal and Peddapalli districts, the EAGLE Force said on Tuesday.
The Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) Force in a release said the students crowdfunded to buy and market drugs to earn easy money to fulfil their drug-related desires.
On receipt of reliable information that ganja was being transported from Odisha to Karimnagar and Hyderabad for sale, a special team intercepted and apprehended a BTech third-year student, and an Intermediate second-year student, who were found transporting the contraband on a motorcycle via Warangal on February 13.
In further investigation, another accused, also a student, and owner of the two-wheeler was apprehended at Godavarikhani in Peddapalli district. A total of 36.8 kg of ganja, worth Rs 18.4 lakh was seized from the accused.
The accused purchased ganja after contacting one supplier, residing in Odisha, and arranged Rs 80,600 to pay him, by pooling money from eight friends (students) for both personal consumption and illegal sale.
The accused confessed that they had purchased ganja at Rs 2,000 per kg from the Pasupulanka area of Odisha and were transporting it to Karimnagar and Hyderabad for illegal sale.
A case was registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act, 1985. Special teams have been formed to apprehend the remaining nine associates (six students and two suppliers) involved in the case, and further investigation is in progress, the EAGLE Force said.
This is the fourth time that the students have procured ganja (between January 2025 and January this year).
“This gang has done immense damage to the students and educational institutes as they have slowly become suppliers and promoters of drug to various schools and colleges in Karimnagar and Hyderabad. The Anti-Drug Committees (ADCs) working in these colleges also failed to alert the police. Neither the village elders or the family noticed their children going astray. Nobody informed the EAGLE Force Toll-Free Number 1908,” the release further said.
This “lapse” allegedly enabled the continuation and expansion of illegal drug activities, adversely impacting several students, their families and educational institutions, the release added.>
