Doctors among 10 arrested in Mangaluru for consuming and peddling drugs: Police

Police say they first arrested Neel Kishorilal Ramji Shah (38), a British citizen who came to Karnataka to study 15 years ago, and that his mobile phone records led them to the others.

Of the 10 accused people, two each are from Kerala, Punjab and Delhi, one each are from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and one is a local person, according to police. (Representational image)

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The Mangaluru city police on Wednesday said that they had arrested 10 people including doctors and medical and dental students on the charges of drug peddling and consumption.

The arrested accused were identified as medical officer Dr Sameer (32), surgeon Dr Manimaran Mutthu (28), MS Orthopaedics student Dr Kshithij Gupta (25), MBBS intern Dr Nadiya Siraj (24), MBBS intern Dr Varshini Prathi (26), BDS student Riya Chadda (22) and MBBS student Ira Basin (23)—all from the Kasturba Medical College and Hospital—and Dr Bhanu Dhahiya (27), an MD Psychiatry student at the Yenepoya hospital; and Mohammed Rauf (34), a resident of Bantwal, and Neel Kishorilal Ramji Shah (38), a British citizen.

Of the 10 accused people, two each are from Kerala, Punjab and Delhi, one each are from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and one is a local person, according to police. They were sent to two-day police custody by a court.

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Police said they arrested Kishorilal from Bunts Hostel in the city on January 8 on the charges of possessing and trying to sell marijuana to locals and students.

Police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that Kishorilal came to Mangaluru 15 years ago to do a dental course but did not complete it.

“After his arrests, we went through his mobile phone records, which led us to the others. We have evidence of their peddling and consuming drugs,” he said.

In 2022, 398 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in the city and 511 people were arrested, Kumar said, adding that marijuana, MDMA, opium and methamphetamine and other illegal drugs worth Rs 59.59 lakh had been seized from them.

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