Doctor arrested for drug peddling in Mangaluru
Mangaluru (Karnataka), Jul 12 (PTI): Mangaluru City Police have arrested a doctor in connection with a drug peddling case, making it the ninth arrest in an ongoing investigation into a local narcotics supply network, officials said on Saturday.
City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy identified the accused as Prajwal Peenyas, a native of Mangalapet in Bidar district and currently residing in Kodipalya, Kengeri, Bengaluru.
He was previously a medical student at a private college in Mangaluru and had three drug-related cases registered at different police stations in the city, he said.
According to police, the latest case was registered on July 2 at the City Central Crime (CEN) police station under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Investigations that began with interrogations of local drug users led police to a network of nine individuals allegedly supplying drugs in Mangaluru. All have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody, the senior police officer said.
Police alleged that Peenyas played a key role in sourcing drugs from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and distributing them in the city. He was arrested earlier this week and produced before a court on Thursday, which remanded him to judicial custody.
A mobile phone reportedly used in the drug transactions has also been seized, the Commissioner said.
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Goa nightclub blaze: Three senior government officials suspended
Panaji (PTI) Three senior officials of the Goa government, including the then Director of Panchayat, were suspended on Sunday in connection with the nightclub fire tragedy for their role in allowing the facility to start operations in 2023, a senior officer said.
A massive fire tore through the nightclub in the early hours of Sunday, claiming 25 lives, including five tourists and 20 staff members.
The suspended officials include Siddhi Tushar Harlankar, who was then Director of Panchayat, Dr Shamila Monteiro, who was then Member Secretary of the Goa State Pollution Control Board, and Raghuvir Bagkar, then Secretary of Village Panchayat Arpora-Nagoa.
They are held responsible for giving permission to 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub at Arpora to start its operations in 2023, a senior officer said.
Police questioned Roshan Redkar, the sarpanch of Arpora-Nagoa Panchayat, who had issued a trade licence to the club.
