Kasargod: Senior politician and former minister Cherkalam Abdullah, 76, passed away at his home on Friday morning.
Cherkalam Abdullah, who was admitted to a private hospital in Mangaluru for the last few days, was brought to the home late yesterday night as per doctors’ opinion. He breathed his last at his residence at 8:20 am today.
The former legislator of Manjeshwar Cherkalam Abdullah was the treasurer of the Muslim League in the state.
Cherkalam, who was a prominent leader of the Congress-led Muslim league, was elected as MLA from Manjeshwar for four times from 1987 to 2001 and was Minister of State in the AK Antony cabinet in 2001.
Cherkalam Abdulla, a resident of Cherkala in Kasargod, had entered the assembly in 1987 by defeating BJP's H. Shankar Alva. With this victory, the Congress-led UDF entered into the Manjeshwara Assembly constituency. UDF once again won the polls in 1992 when the Muslim league leader Cherkalam defeated the most popular BJP leader KG Marar by a margin of 1,072 votes.
Cherkalam, who was elected for the third time by defeating BJP’s CK Padmanabhan in 1996, repeated the triumph over CK Padmanabhan in 2001 and entered into the assembly for the fourth term. Cherkalam, who served as the Muslim League and UDF district president for many years, won the Kannadigas by stirring up Kannada at the Assembly session.
Cherkalam Abdullah is the first MLA to be sworn-in in the Kannada language in Kerala Legislative Assembly.
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Bengaluru (PTI): Two alleged interstate drug peddlers, including a woman, have been arrested with narcotic substances worth Rs 11.50 crore, police said on Tuesday.
The arrests were made recently following a raid conducted by the Narcotics Control Wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in Bagalur police station limits, they said.
Police said 8,335 LSD strips, five kg of Hydro Ganja, 534 grams of Charas, two mobile phones and a two-wheeler were seized from their possession.
"Based on a tip-off, two interstate drug peddlers, including a woman, were apprehended. Both had been residing in Bengaluru for the past year and were involved in an organised illegal drug distribution network. They were receiving narcotic substances from a Kerala-based individual residing in Thailand and distributing them to customers as per his instructions, thereby earning illegal profits," a senior police officer said.
Addressing a press conference here, Seemant Kumar Singh said this was the first time such a huge quantity of LSD had been recovered in Bengaluru.
“We are trying to find out from where it has been sourced and where it was meant to be supplied. We have some specific inputs about the intended targets. However, without concrete evidence, we cannot conclude. We are working to establish how such a huge quantity was procured and for whom it was meant,” he said.
Singh added that further investigation is underway to trace the supply chain and identify those involved in the distribution network.
A case has been registered against them under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) at Bagalur Police Station, and further investigation is in progress, police said.
In another operation, 1.5 kg Hydro Ganja was seized by the officials at K G Nagar police station here, police said.
The contraband had been smuggled via international parcel services and cleverly concealed inside chocolate and biscuit boxes to avoid suspicion, and the estimated value is Rs 1.5 crore, the officer said.
A case has been registered, and efforts are ongoing to trace the accused, police said.
An interstate accused was arrested in the Whitefield police station limits, for selling narcotic drugs on March 1, they said.
Police said 27.239 kg Ganja, 3.200 kg Hashish Oil, along with the two-wheeler used in the crime, with a total worth of Rs 55 lakh was seized from him, they added.
In a separate operation, two foreign women who were overstaying their visas were apprehended within the limits of Mico Layout Police Station, officials said.
They have been handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and subsequently sent to the Foreigners Detention Centre as per legal procedures, they added.
