Three policemen suspended for consuming marijuana in the Nilgiris

Three policemen attached to the Nilgiris district police have been suspended for purchasing and consuming marijuana.

According to officials, the incident came to light following the arrest of 26-year-old Cruz, a resident of Udhagamandalam in the Nilgiris, who was arrested for selling marijuana on January 21. During interrogation, Cruz revealed that he had purchased the contraband from a police constable attached to the Ooty Town Traffic Police, identified as Naseer Ahmed.

After Ahmed came to learn that he had been implicated in the case, he went absconding, resulting in the formation of three special teams to arrest him. After he was apprehended in Coimbatore and was questioned by the police, Ahmed confessed to purchasing marijuana from a man in Attapadi in Kerala.

The police then raided his house and seized 17 kg of marijuana and brought him to the Nilgiris for further questioning. Nilgiris district Superintendent of Police, N.S. Nisha, then transferred two police personnel – a sub-inspector attached to the Ooty Town Traffic Police, identified as Arun, and Jayakumar, a special branch personnel from the Ooty Town Central Police station – for failing to inform her of Ahmed’s involvement in procuring marijuana.

During their investigation, the police also learned that three other officers, identified as Abhisekaran attached to Erumad police station, Mayakannan attached to Kotagiri police station, and Shanthakumar attached to the Masinagudi police station, had purchased and consumed marijuana from Ahmed. The three men have been suspended from duty pending inquiry.