Following a major narcotic raid carried out in the district last week, Excise Department Cherthala Circle Inspector K R Babu was transferred to Walayar checkpost.
Babu had led a team that apprehended three persons, including a doctor from Aroor with 53 ampoules of narcotics, on July 24. The transfer came as a shock to the district administration and the peoples’ representatives who have been striving to build a narcotics-free district. The district administration had created an organisation named ‘Vimukthi’ to reduce narcotic usage in campuses across the district. The Excise Department and the police have strengthened raids in this regard.
As many as 16 drug peddlers were arrested and over 600 ampoules of narcotics were confiscated during raids in Cherthala the last five months after Babu and his team came into the picture. The arrested are Sony Daniel, 42, owner of Dev’s Clinic in Aroor, with 53 ampoules, and Alex, 32, of Thachuthara, Arattuvazhi, with 230 ampoules, and Pradeep, 36, of Rameswaram, Kochi, were arrested. Alex was the drugs supplier in the district.
The Excise Department officials suspect that the transfer may have occurred because Sony and Alex belong to affluent families.
An Excise Department jeep was set on fire during the wee hours of Saturday following the arrest.
At a function organised at the Public Library in Paravoor, Alappuzha, Union Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal said that such officials are needed to reform society. The transfer order came at a time when the minister’s congratulatory words had not faded from public memory, said an official in the department.
Venugopal asked the Collector to form a squad comprising officials of various departments to curtail the use of drugs during a ‘Vimukthi’ meeting held at the Collectorate Conference Hall on Friday.
The minister directed the police and Excise officials to book the masterminds behind the narcotic trade in the district.
The Excise Department referred to the transfer order as a general transfer. However, officials in the department stated that when personnel are promoted to the Circle Inspector post, they are usually transferred to Walayar and other checkposts. Babu was promoted to the post of Circle Inspector five years ago. He had served at the Excise Department headquarters and Intelligence wings, and he is an efficient officer, said a colleague.
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