Woman panchayat president kingpin in drug trade

The Indian Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials tracking a network that tried to smuggle 1.94 kg heroin from Kanyakumari to Sri Lanka have zeroed in on the boss Radhamani, the village panchayat president of Vizhinthamavadi village in Nagapattinam.

According to highly placed NCB sources, Velu, who landed in the NCB net in Kanyakumari, was the trusted driver of Radhamani and her husband Mahalingam, and their main carrier as well. Radhamani had been co-ordinating the drug trafficking network ever since Mahalingam was put behind bars in Tumkur, Karnataka, after NCB arrested him in a drug-trafficking case.

"Mahalingam was arrested by us in 2007 in connection with a case registered against him in 2004. Ever since, Radhamani has been carrying on the drug trade between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, which they had established for more than 15 years," a senior NCB official said.

The official said that the couple ran a well-oiled network in India and Sri Lanka. "They are in the trade for more than 15 years. However, we thought that they would have stopped after the arrest of Mahalingam. But the arrest of Velu in Kanyakumari has proved that the couple has been very active. Mahalingam and Radhamani are very rich and they finance the drug deals in this part of the country. The couple also has an aquaculture farm. Both are natives of Nagapattinam."

When NCB arrested Velu and started probing his connections, Radhamani absconded. "We have launched a search for her. The couple has managed to stay away from the hands of law for so long, always victimising poor carriers, most of them languishing in prison," the official added.

On March 15, NCB officials, with the help of the Q-Branch of the State police, seized 1.94 kg of heroin in Melmidalam village in Colachel, Kanyakumari district. NCB officials arrested Velu and Dasan, a native of Kanyakumari for possession and attempt to smuggle heroin to Sri Lanka.