Mysuru police have formed a special team to investigate possible drug-peddling activity in the district after Kerala police arrested a Nanjangud resident accused of helping transport MDMA through banana shipments. The move follows an interstate investigation in which officers from Kerala linked the suspect to alleged drug distribution between Bengaluru, Mysuru and Kerala.
The arrested man, identified as 31-year-old Dhanesh, also known as Danny or Dani Bhai, is originally from Alappuzha district in Kerala. He had been living with his wife and two children in Devirammanahalli in Nanjangud for about six months and was cultivating bananas on leased agricultural land in Kurihundi village.
Mysuru Superintendent of Police Mallikarjun Baladandi said Kerala police picked up Dhanesh on Sunday, November 8, on drug-peddling charges. Mysuru police subsequently searched his rented house and the banana plantation, which the report described as covering six acres of leased land. The searches did not produce evidence of illegal activity in Mysuru, according to the SP.
“Soon after, we searched his rented house and banana plantation which he cultivated on six acres of leased land in Nanjangud, but we didn’t find any clue about the illegal activity being done in Mysuru,” Baladandi said, according to the report.
The SP also said that video footage showing MDMA packets allegedly concealed among banana bunches and later removed from them was not connected to Mysuru. However, police have intensified their search following the disclosure by Kerala investigators. Baladandi said Mysuru police would take Dhanesh into custody to investigate the allegations and initiate legal action if they found evidence that he had committed an offence in the district.
The case began with a raid by a team led by Aluva subdivision police officers in Angamaly in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. Two youths were allegedly detained with MDMA during the operation. Police inquiries reportedly connected them to Dhanesh, who lived in Nanjangud, and he was later arrested on the basis of what investigators described as credible intelligence.
According to the report, police suspect Dhanesh of playing a significant role in an MDMA supply chain and coordinating a distribution network through social media. Sources also claimed that videos showing drugs being transported among banana bunches were recovered from phones used by the arrested individuals. These claims remain part of the Kerala investigation and have not been established by the Mysuru searches described in the report.
The episode has placed the focus on how narcotics networks operate across state borders and how intelligence is shared between local police units. The report does not establish that drugs were distributed from Mysuru, but the formation of the special team indicates that Mysuru police are examining whether the district was used as a base, transit point or residential link in the alleged network.
Mysuru MP Pratap Simha criticised the local intelligence response in a post on X, alleging that the interstate racket was uncovered by Kerala police rather than Karnataka authorities. Mysuru police, however, have said that their investigation is continuing and that further action will depend on evidence gathered during the probe.
The special team will continue checks related to the alleged narcotics network, while Mysuru police are expected to investigate Dhanesh’s local links and take legal action if evidence of wrongdoing in the district is found.
