Officials from Telangana's Prohibition and Excise department on Wednesday arrested two techies in Hyderabad on charges of procuring marijuana from Araku in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam district and selling it to customers in the city. The accused have been identified as 23-year-old Srikanth, a software engineer and his roommate, 24-year-old Sai Charan, who had also completed his engineering and was looking for a job.
The police said that the duo were staying at Borabanda and began selling it in order to make a quick buck. They were found in possession of more than 1 kg of dry marijuana. The authorities also seized two mobile phones and a sports bike that they used for delivering the substance to customers.
Speaking to reporters, Assistant Excise Superintendent (Enforcement) N Anji Reddy said that they would sell 25 gram and 50 gram packets for Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 each, mainly delivering in areas like Ameerpet, Madhapur and Banjara Hills.
“Through a contact, they met a supplier in Araku and purchased ganja from him by paying Rs 3,500 per kilo. They packed the purchased ganja into small packets and started selling it in Hyderabad at Rs 1,000 per 50 gram,” an excise official, who arrested the duo, told ToI.
The accused and the seized substance was handed over to the excise police station in Ameerpet, for further investigation.
In August this year, a techie from Hyderabad was caught by the Task Force wing of Telangana's Prohibition and Excise Department on charges of drug peddling.
Investigators nabbed Koustav, a native of Kolkata, and his associate, Syed Adil, after they were caught red-handed selling cocaine near Sarojini Devi Hospital in the city's Humayunnagar area.
Officials seized 15 grams of cocaine, 80 grams of dry ganja and two phones from their possession.
Besides posting multiple photos of him smoking cannabis on Facebook, Koustav also openly advertised that he was selling 'Molly', a street name for Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on the social media platform, which landed him straight into the hands of investigators.