Hyderabad: Leading IT companies have sacked eight software employees who were found to have purchased narcotics, in the first such action that has been formally announced on Thursday.
The action was taken after the names of the employees were found on the contact list of a drug peddler, V. Lakshmipathi of West Godavari district, police said on Thursday.
Lakshmipathi was taken into custody by the Hyderabad Narcotic Enforcement Wing (H-NEW) police on April 5. Police seized his mobile phone and secured the names and contact numbers of his customers from his Whatsapp as well as Instagram, Snapchat and social media app accounts.
When officials contacted the names on the list, they came to know that the some of them were software employees who had already been sacked by their employers. When the officials cross-checked with the IT companies, it was confirmed that eight employees had been sacked.
“We have identified most of the names of the consumers working for Microsoft, Infosys, and Amazon. We suspect there are more software employees who consume drugs,” said G. Chakravarthy H-NEW deputy commissioner of police (DCP).
He said that the accused Lakshmapathi’s mobile only had the names of drug consumers. “Our officers are working on it. Once we collect complete information about the consumers, we start issuing notices to their employers,” the DCP said.
According to sources, Lakshmipathi had the largest customer base in Hyderabad — than 100 customers in Kondapur, Jubilee Hills, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Banjara Hills and posh localities.
He also has customers in Maharashtra and Goa, sources revealed.
Lakshmipathi used to deal with ganja and hashish oil and not chemical drugs, police said.
Meanwhile, the Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) said that in view of the increasing instances of drug abuse, the will soon roll out anti-drug abuse committees in all IT companies for effectively curbing the menace.
The initiative is aimed at sensitivising the employees, considering a large section of them are youth.
“The objective of these committees is to create a platform to monitor drug abuse and encourage employees to report any known cases of involvement in and around the IT hubs. As a preventive measure, committees will be formed in all the firms to stamp down the drug usage, as has been done earlier in educational institutions,” said Krishna Yedula, general secretary, SCSC. The initiative will be rolled out in 2-3 weeks, once the staff start returning to offices, he added.
