Five persons arrested with cannabis, banned tobacco products

Kochi: As part of Operation Toofan: The Narco Hunt, Kochi city police arrested five persons in separate raids, seizing more than six kilograms of cannabis and a large quantity of banned tobacco products.Acting on directives of Kochi city commissioner K Mahesh Kumar, city Dansaf team and local police units carried out inspections across city limits on Thursday.In one of the major seizures, Dansaf arrested two West Bengal natives — Manirul, 25, and Nandu Mandal, 31, both hailing from Murshidabad — with 5.02kg of cannabis near IAC Staff Quarters at Kottakkadavu in Eloor.Infopark police arrested Akshay, 19, a resident of Ponnadapadam, Maradu, with 1.03kg of cannabis from Chittethukara near Kakkanad.Meanwhile, a raid by Panangad police led to the arrest of two Assam natives who were staying in a rented house near Kumbalam Metro Jetty. The accused, Muftadul Islam, 22, of Morigaon and Mainul Haque, 31, of Hojai, were found in possession of 549 packets of banned tobacco products. Police said the duo had been targeting school students.All the accused were produced before court and was remanded in custody.Three arrested for pledging fake goldKochi: Perumbavoor police on Thursday arrested three persons for allegedly cheating a bank by pledging imitation gold ornaments and obtaining a loan of Rs 6.36 lakh.

The arrested are Jagadeesh, 48, of Kuthukuzhi, Kothamangalam; Rajesh Thomas, 45, of Malayanmkeezhu and Rajesh Vijayan, 46, Kozhippilly, Varapetty.According to police, the incident happened at Federal Bank branch on AM Road in Perumbavoor on May 20. Rajesh Thomas and Rajesh Vijayan allegedly approached the bank with ornaments weighing 73.2g and obtained loan.Police said the ornaments were later found to be imitation jewellery. Jagadeesh, who was working as appraiser attached to the bank branch, allegedly examined the ornaments and certified them as genuine gold.Further investigation is under way to ascertain whether the accused had employed similar methods in other cases.Investigation team comprised inspector L Anilkumar, sub-inspectors Jojo George and Subhash Thankappan among others.