Lingaraj Kanni, Kalaburagi South Block Congress president and close aide of Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, was arrested by Bazarpeth Police in Maharashtra in a drug trafficking racket case. He was arrested in Thane district for selling narcotic substances. Kanni alos closely associated with Gulbarga Dakshin Assembly constituency MLA Allamaprabhu Patil.
During the arrest, the Kalyan police seized 120 bottles of banned codeine syrup from his possession, according to the India Today report. A case has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, at the Kalyan Police Station.
BJP spokesperson Tuhin Sinha said, "Lingraj Kanni, Congress President of Kalaburagi South Block, has been arrested in Maharashtra on charges of drug trafficking. This is a very serious matter as he is considered a close associate of Priyank Kharge, and Kalaburagi is regarded as a stronghold of the Kharge family..."
Meanwhile, another aide of Karnataka minister Kharge was arrested in the suicide of a 26-year-old contractor in Bidar. The contractor, named Raju Kapanur, had his suicide note alleging that Kapanur had extorted him for money and issued death threats over a tender-related dispute.