College Teacher Among 4 Arrested For Supplying Drugs To Students In Kerala

A college teacher is among four people arrested in a case involving the alleged supply of MDMA to students and youngsters in Kerala's Malappuram district, with police now probing the extent of the drug network and its possible links to educational institutions.

The arrested teacher was identified as Suhail Peringodan, who works at MES Mampad College. The other accused are Reena TN, Vivek Vijayan and Subrahmanyan.

Police initially recovered 0.4 grams of MDMA and 0.5 grams of cannabis from Subrahmanyan. The subsequent investigation led police to Suhail. Though the quantity seized is small, police sources said the network was dealing with larger quantities and that a detailed probe could uncover a wider nexus. Investigators are also not ruling out a possible teacher-student connection.

According to police, the college teacher had been regularly supplying MDMA to Vivek and Reena, who were allegedly part of the distribution network.

Police are now investigating the network's reach, particularly allegations that MDMA was being supplied to students in Nilambur and nearby areas.

The arrest comes just weeks after three women teachers were arrested in the Vadakara MDMA case in Kozhikode district, raising concerns over people working in the education sector allegedly becoming involved in drug distribution networks.

In that case, KC Keerthana, K Kavya and VP Neeshma, who were associated with the Perambra Block Resource Centre, were arrested following an investigation by DANSAF and the Kozhikode Rural Police under Operation Toofan.

Police alleged that the network used QR code payments and concealed "dead-drop" locations to distribute MDMA, with transactions running into lakhs of rupees. The three teachers were subsequently terminated from service.