Minister M.B. Rajesh
| Photo Credit: KVS GIRI
The Kerala Police has prepared a list of repeat offenders in cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Abkari Act as part of efforts to clamp down on drug trade, Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh said in a reply to questions in the Assembly on Monday.
The Minister placed on the table a list of 497 repeat offenders in NDPS cases and 500 repeat offenders in abkari cases, along with the number of cases in which each is an accused.
The Minister said that the movements of the repeat offenders are constantly monitored by the officials of the Excise Range, Circle and Squad offices and the Excise Intelligence. Raids are organised to target drug peddlers based on information gathered from the monitoring activities. During all special drives to target drug traders, those who are accused in old drug-related cases are also monitored. Panchayat and ward-level committees also provide inputs to the Excise for these activities, he said in the reply.
Those who are involved in more than one major/commercial-level NDPS cases can be kept under preventive detention as per the clause 10(1) of the NDPS Act of 1988. The Excise department is currently preparing proposals for the same. Shops located near schools which are under suspicion of selling drugs to students are also constantly monitored and raids conducted.
Published – March 17, 2025 01:18 pm IST