Nation shouldn’t lose another Vandana, says Kerala home minister as late doctor’s father backs Operation Toofan

Kottayam: The memories of Dr Vandana Das, who was brutally murdered by an accused addicted to intoxicants, will now become a strength for the nation’s fight against drugs, said home minister Ramesh Chennithala on Friday.Marking International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the minister pinned the Toofan Warrior badge on K G Mohandas, Dr Vandana’s father, at the MLA office in Haripad, Alappuzha.Chennithala said drugs are a calamity that destroys not just an individual but families and society as a whole. The death of Dr Vandana, he said, is a pain Kerala should not forget. The nation should not lose another Dr Vandana, Chennithala added.Meanwhile, Mohandas said his prayer is that no other family should suffer the tragedy that drugs caused his. He pledged his full support to the state govt’s anti-drug initiatives, including ‘Operation Toofan: The Narco Hunt’, and urged society to join hands with the govt’s efforts to save the youth from the grip of drugs. He added that his support for the campaign would continue.Chennithala said the fight against drugs cannot be left to law enforcement alone, and that families, social organizations and educational institutions must all participate. The support extended by Dr. Vandana’s family, he said, is a source of great confidence and inspiration for the movement.Dr Vandana Das, a house surgeon at Kottarakkara taluk hospital, was stabbed to death with a pair of scissors on May 10, 2023, by Sandeep, an accused who was brought to the hospital by police for medical examination.