Delaying gutka case sanction, talking ill of DMK’s anti-drug crackdown shows Guv's bias: TN Law Minister

CHENNAI: Hitting back at Governor RN Ravi for criticising the state police crackdown against non-ganja drugs, state law minister S Regupathy on Monday said that the Governor who delayed the sanction against former AIADMK ministers in the gutkha case does not have any moral right to talk about the crackdown against drugs in the DMK regime.

In a lashing statement with comprehensive data, issued in the aftermath of the Governor's recent speech at an event in Sankarankovil, Regupathy said that Governor Ravi has made it his hobby to speak politics and spread rumours in and out of Raj Bhavan.

Claiming that the gubernatorial head had forgotten his capacity and turned Raj Bhavan into Kamalalayam, the BJP state unit headquarters, the law minister said it was surprising and amusing that the governor who delayed sanctioning the gutkha cases against former AIADMK ministers was now talking about eliminating drugs. "Does the Governor have the moral right to question the crackdown against drugs in the DMK regime?" Regupathy wondered.

READ MORE: GoI's study found TN's ganja use at 0.1% while national average 1.2%: Police

Claiming that most of the persons arrested under the NDPS Act were BJP functionaries in the state, Regupathy said that the state BJP has accommodated 16 anti-social elements, including drug smugglers. About 23 cases have been booked against 14 history-sheeters belonging to the BJP under the NDPS Act in Chennai, Tambaram, Avadi, Kancheepuram, Chengalpet, Trichy, Perambalur, Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai and Madurai, he added.

Governor Ravi was unfairly levelling false allegations against the DMK regime to cover up the tainted image of BJP members involved in drug smuggling cases, the minister said, asking why he does not talk about BJP functionaries booked in drug cases across the nation.

Referring to the first-of-its-kind conference of district collectors and senior police officers chaired by the CM to launch a crackdown against drugs in 2022, the minister said that the AIADMK did not hold such a conference and the state is leading the nation in the fight against drugs, owing to intense efforts taken in the last three years.

He stated that the Narcotic Intelligence Bureau CID (NIB-CID) was working in coordination with the NCB. “This is in addition to the 1,368 police stations (law and order) and 100 prohibition enforcement wing stations empowered to crack down on drugs,” he said. Over 42 coastal police stations have been equipped with 24 modern high-power boats to monitor the movement of drugs on the coastal areas, the minister added.

Pointing out that about 10,665 cases were booked and 14,934 persons, including 19 foreigners were arrested and 28,383 kg of ganja, 63,848 tablets, 98 kilograms of other drugs were seized in 2022, the minister said that the governor has conveniently forgotten the facts that seizures in the incumbent regime were 61% and 33% more than the previous AIADMK regime.

Adding that about 10, 256 cases were booked against 14,770 persons and 23,364 kg of ganja, 0.953 kg of heroin, 39,910 tablets, about 1,239 kg of ganja chocolates, Methamphetamine, Amphetamine and Methclone were seized in 2023, the minister said that till August this year, about 6,053 cases were booked against 9,750 persons and 15,092 kg of ganja, 90,833 tablets, 93 kg of methylone and 228 kg of other drugs were seized till August.

It is shameful that the governor was oblivious to the facts and he has donned the role of a BJP person on the dais and uttered blatant lies, Regupathy said, adding that the statistics would demonstrate that the governor's statement was a blatant lie.