Assam: Alleged ex-student of NIT Silchar held for drug peddling in Hailakandi

Silchar: A 24-year-old youth claiming to be an alumnus of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Silchar was arrested red-handed for selling drugs in Assam’s Hailakandi district on Thursday.

The arrested youth S. Gokhale belongs to Keval Colony in the Amravati district of Maharashtra.

Sources said policemen caught Gokhale with 20 small containers having around 60 grams of drugs–allegedly heroine–from a hotel in Lalpani, Katlicherra, about 30km from Hailakandi on Thursday afternoon. Gokhale was phoned for drugs by police (based on specific information about drugs with him), following which he came to the hotel where many policemen were waiting for him in the disguise of customers (in civil dresses). Gokhale tried fleeing, but police nabbed him with the drugs. The market value of the drugs seized from him is more than Rs 1 lakh, sources said.

After arresting Gokhale, police brought him to Silchar for probe-related purposes and again took him to Katlicherra police station at night. Preliminary investigation has found that Gokhale went to Hailakandi’s Jamira with the drugs on Wednesday evening, and he stayed at a place in Ramnathpur at night, the sources said.

A source in the police said Gokhale, during police interrogation, confessed that he had collected the drugs from Najmul Hussain, a resident of Silchar’s Madhurbond area on Wednesday and came to Hailakandi the same day. Gokhale informed the police that several students of NIT, Silchar consume drugs. Every drug container is sold at Rs 500 to the institution’s students, he told the police.

He also mentioned that he was a student of NIT, Silchar. He got admission in 2013 and was a student of the Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering. After completing his engineering course in 2019, he got in touch with drug peddlers and was involved in the illegal business of selling drugs for “shortcut money”, the source police said.

On being contacted, the officer in charge of Katlicherra police station R. K. Das said he was out of Hailakandi district for a professional purpose and that he did not have any information about the matter (of the youth’s arrest and seizure of drugs). Another official of the police station Sanjoy Roy also said he was out of Hailakandi and that he had no information regarding the matter.

An official of the police station Ankur Bora said police would produce the arrested youth before a court on Friday and request the court to remand the youth to their custody (for further interrogation).

Hailakandi superintendent of police N. Mahanta was not available for comments when this news report was filed.

EastMojo could not verify from the NIT Silchar authorities whether Gokhale was a student of the institution.

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