SALEM: Septuagenarian S Alamelu seemed like any other elderly woman living next door. That was until Thursday when sleuths of the Magudanchavadi police swooped down on her place at Mottur near Elampillai and arrested her for allegedly selling ganja to students and youth. While she was remanded in prison after the officials seized 1.25 kg ganja, an official privy to the probe let on to TNIE that the discovery was only tip of the iceberg.
The official claims that the ganja mafia operating out of the district is roping in elderly people (age group of 60-70) to peddle the contraband. Using elderly as peddlers helps the mafia evade police eyes. Explaining the modus operandi, the official claimed that the elderly peddlers are given one-two kg ganja stashed into 10 gm packets, each of which they have to sell to college students and youth for `50.
All this for a paltry daily wage of `150. The shift towards employing the elderly began sometime in the past two years after a stringent crackdown on peddlers by the city and district police. Salem is touted as a major transit point in the flow of the contraband coming from Andhra Pradesh via Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts before flowing into Erode, Tirupur and Coimbatore, where students and migrant workers form the bulk of the mafia’s clientele.
Skeletons tumble out
Alamelu would have evaded the police eyes for a longer time if the wife of a ganja seller had not lodged a complaint with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption against the top officials of the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau-CID. The woman alleged that the sleuths were forcing her to peddle the contraband for a monthly bribe of `1 lakh to turn a blind eye. This reinvigorated the crackdown. The complainant had alleged DSP of NIB CID P Kumar had received for two years from the peddlers in Salem, Dharmapuri, Namakkal and Krishnagiri districts.