Chennai police and Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Control authorities here have launched an investigation into sale of suspected ganja chocolates to school kids in R. K Nagar here.
As the case is reported from the constituency represented by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, a series of meetings and discussions was held by State top health officials on Monday to look into the case and also track the trail of narco-chocolates landing in Chennai.
“The sample chocolates have been sent to a corporation lab and a team from central food safety department had also collected samples for test. A few nearby shops were also questioned regarding the mystery chocolates”, said a corporation official.
(Photo: DC)
Preliminary enquiries revealed that the shopkeeper was a native of Bihar and had been bringing narco-chocolates through his relatives and was selling the same to local kids over the past few months, he said.
“Chennai had witnessed a similar case five years back, but there was no major investigation. Even now, the corporation lab which has obtained the samples hardly has any hi-tech equipment to deal with food samples mixed with narco content”, alleged civic activist D. Mani.
When contacted, RK Nagar police Inspector Veerakumar said police had picked up the shopkeeper who was reportedly selling narco chocolates for questioning.
“The shop has been closed. We have sent the sample chocolate for chemical test. Once the result is received, we will take appropriate action,” the investigating officer said.
R. Kathiravan, designated food safety officer, Chennai, said the chocolate was found to have registration details related to Ayurvedic medicine. “We have transferred the case to the department of Ayurvedic medicine for further investigation”, he said.
