23 April,2014 07:18 AM IST | | Shiva Devnath
Residents notice suspicious activities on Santacruz stretch of the beach, find some people selling drugs to youngsters; they alert cops, who raid rooms in Indra Nagar and find 3 kg of marijuana
The efforts made by a group of residents to curb street crimes in their suburb bore fruit on Monday with the arrest of two drug suppliers from Juhu.
Ashish Patel and his group of vigilant residents have been keeping watch on the beach to keep the stretch free of crimes and drugs
The group, after noticing suspicious activities in Juhu beach in Santacruz, initiated action and informed the Mumbai Police control room about marijuana being sold there, after which Santacruz police seized a 3 kg contraband of marijuana.
The contraband that was seized
According to the vigilant Juhu residents, their suspicions were aroused when they saw a group of about 30-35 youngsters gathered at Juhu beach. When they started questioning them, the youngsters started fleeing the spot. The residents succeeded in nabbing a woman from the spot. She was found in possession of charas, in small packets. The residents passed on the information to the police.
Their investigations led them to Indra Nagar in Juhu, from where they recovered 3 kg of marijuana. They also arrested two drug suppliers in possession of the drugs. Ashish Patel, who helped nab the drug suppliers, said, "Santacruz Juhu beach is a tourist destination and many colleges and schools surround it, but in the past few years, the beach has turned into a haven for criminals and drug addicts, many of whom are college goers.
Recently, a student in the area had a major face-off with his professor while he was under the influence of drugs. The students keep visiting Juhu beach at night, and many can be seen selling as well as consuming ganja openly at the beach. Our group is keeping a close eye on the beach at night."
Patel added, "On Monday, we handed over six people to the Santacruz police, who were selling drugs openly at Juhu beach. We will keep up our watch till such activities stop. Many times, we caught students from well-to-do families puffing on charas and ganja.
They are ready to purchase it at any cost, even if it destroys their future." Arun Chavan, senior police inspector from Santacruz police station, said, "We have seized over 3 kg ganja and arrested two accused, identified as Sahaji Uttam Kale (40) and Shankar Bajirao Kale (45)."
