Drug Users Caught Red-Handed Before Purchase in Hyderabad
Coded WhatsApp message leads EAGLE team to bust ganja supply network in Hyderabad IT corridor; 14 buyers, including professionals and students, held during decoy operation.
Hyderabad: A coded WhatsApp message, “Bhai, baccha aa gaya”, was all it took to alert consumers to collect ganja at the HDFC Bank branch in Gachibowli from a Maharashtra-based supplier. Acting on a tip-off, the EAGLE narcotics wing conducted a decoy operation on Saturday and caught 14 people red-handed as they tried to purchase the contraband.
The accused include Naveen (31), an online trader; Ayush (22), a student; Nikhil (29), a racing engineer; Sindura (26), an architect; Hasan (34), a property manager; Kranti (28), an IT employee; Akhil (28), a dental technician; Shiva (32), a business relationship manager; Sandesh (34), a freelance advertising professional; Sai Raj (31), a real estate sales executive; another Akhil (26), a travel agency owner; Swamy (27), a driver; Thushar (24), an IT employee; and Arpith (24), an IT employee.
Police identified the dealer, Sandeep from Maharashtra, as a repeat offender operating in the IT corridor. He allegedly delivered 50-gram packets of ganja, priced at ₹3,000 each, to over 100 regular contacts, coordinating exclusively via WhatsApp coded messages. During each visit, Sandeep reportedly carried about 5 kg of ganja, worth ₹3 lakh, and targeted IT professionals, students and private-sector workers under the Gachibowli flyover.
On Saturday, plainclothes officers from EAGLE and the Cyberabad Narcotics Police Station set up surveillance and decoy teams 200 metres from the drop-off point. Over two hours, they apprehended 14 purchasers. All were tested on the spot with urine drug kits and returned positive results for cannabis. Among them, a husband and wife arrived with their four-year-old son; the woman and child were released, but the man tested positive. In another case, both spouses tested positive after trying to bluff their way out.
While the consumers were detained and referred to certified de-addiction centres, the main peddler escaped. “Efforts are under way to track him down,” officials said, adding that technical teams are now analysing WhatsApp chats, phone numbers and other digital evidence to map the broader supply chain.
TGANB director Sandeep Shandilya told the Deccan Chronicle that a first-time consumer, a student, who tested negative was warned and released. Authorities are also reviewing the peddler’s database of 100 regular buyers and believe a larger local network remains active; the remaining 86 identified consumers were advised to seek voluntary de-addiction.
EAGLE officials appealed to youth and students to avoid drugs and urged families to monitor children closely and report suspicious activity to helpline 1908. “Several families have already suffered because of this. We must work together for a drug-free Telangana,” Shandilya said.