Directors’ ganja arrests: Supplier still on the run

Kochi: Excise officers are still trying to track down the individual who sold ganja to prominent film directors Khalid Rahman and Ashraf Hamza. They were arrested with 1.6g of hybrid ganja from a flat near Marine Drive.According to excise sources, they discovered the phone number of the man who sold the contraband and will soon track him down. Rahman and Hamza, along with their friend Shalif Mohammed, were arrested under the NDPS Act but were given bail as the quantity of the seized ganja was minuscule. A bong (a device used to smoke ganja), a crushing machine, and OCB paper (smoking paper) were also seized from them.The three were nabbed from an apartment along Abraham Madamakkal Road in Kochi. Excise later arrested cinematographer-director Sameer Thahir who rented out the apartment. The directors were caught when they were allegedly about to use the drug during the raid in the early hours of April 27.Sources said that the supplier is a Kerala-based man, and it was Shalif who allegedly bought the contraband. Excise received credible information on the supplier soon after the arrest but are yet to nab him. The officers expect to find out more details about the source of the drug and other customers of the contraband from the alleged supplier.