A video of Hyderabad Police stopping people and checking their WhatsApp messages for words like 'ganja', 'drugs' has gone viral on social media drawing comments on social media about whether the police can do this disregarding privacy.
Reports said the viral video of the search operation was from the Bahadurpura limits of Hyderabad, while the Hyderabad Police are regularly conducting such operations on the instruction of the Commissioner of Police.
According to South Zone DCP Gajrao Bhupal, over 100 policemen took part in the search operation in the Asadbaba Nagar area of Bahadurpura police limits. 58 vehicles were searched during the drive.
“10 rowdy-sheeters were taken into custody and they were counselled to refrain from criminal activities. For the past two months, we are conducting a special drive against drugs, ganja in the Hyderabad commissionerate and violators will not be spared,” said the DCP as quoted by The News Minute.
When asked if the public have an option to deny giving their phones when asked by cops, the DCP said, “The public can deny giving their phone. However, we will then have to see what legal provisions apply. So far, we have not faced any such issue. There are no specific instructions as there has not been any issue so far.”
At a time when Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan is in jail in connection with a drugs case, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has declared war on illegal drugs. Last week, the chief minister addressed a high-level meeting of police and excise officials and instructed them to tighten the screw on drugs.
