In a crackdown against the narcotics trade in the city, the Bengaluru police have started attaching the properties of habitual offenders.
The properties of three such offenders have been attached, senior officials from the police department said on Sunday. The seizures are a part of the police strategy to warn the drug offenders of the consequences of their actions.
“This (property) attachment is a new thing. It will be quite effective in the long run once we start attaching the properties of other drug offenders also. So, it is going to give good results,” additional commissioner (crime) Raman Gupta said.
With the value of drugs seized in just the first half of 2022 almost equalling the entire value of narcotics seized in 2021, the police have launched a clampdown to contain the menace.
On Saturday, the police attached the properties of habitual offender, G Mallesh, 50, under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).The department seized nearly eight acres of agricultural land worth over ₹50 lakh and his bank accounts worth ₹3 lakh.
A case against him was registered with Konanakunte police station in Bengaluru in 2018.
The commissioner of police for Bengaluru city, Prathap Reddy, transferred the case to the Narcotics Prevention Wing of Central Crime Branch (CCB) on May 19, 2022.
During investigation it was found that the accused had been involved in smuggling drugs for 10 to 12 years. Mallesh is an accused in seven NDPS cases in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts, said police.
Based on the probe, the CCB approached the court with a request to seize Mallesh’s properties. In June, permission was given under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture Of Property) Act, 1976 and NDPS Act by a local court.
The home owners who rent out their properties to foreigners without checking for valid documents, also run the risk of their belongings getting attached if their tenants are found to be involved in any illegal activities, especially smuggling of drug, said Gupta. He said that the police have warned the house owners.
“If you are a house owner and have given a place on rent and if they (tenants) are found to be dealing with drugs….suppose they don’t have a passport or other documents, then we will make them (home owners) also as an accused,” he added.
Officials in the know of matter said that the number of cases relating to narcotics has gone upand there has been a spike in demand, dealing and consumption of synthetic drugs as well.
The police also added that it discovered a large network involving locals and foreigners who would go into dark web and purchase drugs using Cryptocurrencies which was supplied with the help of delivery apps, HT had reported.
The police said that a large amount of marijuana is smuggled into the state from Telangana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam. Synthetic drugs like MDMA are supplied from Delhi, Punjab, Kerala, Maharashtra and Goa among other places, said the police.
In first six months of 2022, the Bengaluru police registered 1716 drug-related cases and booked 2,262 persons
Gupta said that the value of the seized items stood at ₹55 crore in just first six months as against ₹60 crore in 2021.
In terms of quantity, the total drug haul was 3705 kg in 2021 and 2005 kg in 2022 until June, the police said.
The police said that they destroyed 4,353kg of narcotics, 6,679 MDMA and ecstasy pills, 2,995 LSD strips seized between August 25, 2021 and June 26, 2022, HT had reported.
In the 183 cases registered last year,141 foreigners were involved, said the police, adding in 2022, so far 53 cases have been registered in which 45 accused are from other countries.
