Congress Office Bearer From Karnataka Arrested For Drug Peddling In Thane
“Trouble is mounting for Priyank Kharge as his right-hand man is caught in a drug trafficking case. Will Mallikarjun Kharge break his silence now? Or will Congress, as usual, protect its own?”: National Information and Technology Department Amit Malvya wrote on 'X'
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Police have arrested a Congress office bearer in Kalaburagi on charges of drug peddling. Lingaraj Kanni, president of the Kalaburagi South Block Congress unit, was apprehended in Thane city while in possession of narcotic substances and allegedly attempting to sell them. He was also found in possession of a banned Codeine-based syrup of 120 bottles.
Said to be a close aide of Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, Kanni is also associated with Gulbarga Dakshin Assembly constituency MLA Allamaprabhu Patil. A case has been registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 at the Kalyan Police Station. He was later expelled from his party position.
Kanni was arrested along with one Irfan Ibrahim from Kalaburagi and the car driver. They were produced before a court, which remanded them to judicial custody.
According to reports, Kanni had joined the Congress during the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections after previously being affiliated with the BJP.
In its official statement, the Congress party said, “Gulbarga South Rural Block Congress Committee President Lingaraj Kanni has been expelled from the primary membership of the Congress party with immediate effect following allegations in the media that he is involved in drug peddling.”
However, the BJP targeted Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. In-charge of the BJP’s National Information and Technology Department Amit Malvya wrote on X, “Trouble is mounting for Priyank Kharge as his right-hand man is caught in a drug trafficking case. Will Mallikarjun Kharge break his silence now? Or will Congress, as usual, protect its own?”
