Mangaluru, August 17: With the arrest of five people for having cocaine illegally, the Mangaluru CCB police busted a racket which has been selling cocaine in the city, on Friday and recovered the drug, vehicles, and cash worth around Rs 20 lakh from the accused.

The arrested are identified as Vijesh Kumar (34) of Manjeshwar Kunjathur, gym trainer Nithin (35) of Puttur Narimogaru, real estate agent Santosh Kumar of Bejai Church road, Sandeep Kumar (34) of Bondel KHB Colony and Rahul (26) of Soujanya Lane at Bikarnakatte.

Acting on a tip-off that four-five people have been selling the drug to the students, the CCB police raided them and arrested them. The police recovered the drug worth Rs 50,000, three cars, seven mobile phones and Rs 1,02,000 cash and it was estimated the worth of the drug and other valuables is Rs 19,57,000. The accused used to bring the drug from Goa and selling here, it is said.

CCB inspector Shantaram, Mangaluru East inspector Maruthi Nayak and CCB PSI Shamsundar, and staff participated in the operation.

 

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.

Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.

Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.

An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.

The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.

A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.

Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."

"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.

"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.

A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.