Idukki (Kerala),  22 Oct

Excise officers in this district in Kerala were in for a rude shock when a group of school students entered their office accidentally and requested for a matchbox to light a beedi rolled with ganja.

The incident occurred in Adimali in the high range district on Monday, where students of an aided school in Thrissur arrived as part of their school excursion with teachers.

They entered the local excise office to get the matchbox mistaking it to be a workshop.

Immediatley, excise sleuths caught the higher secondary students red-handed and seized banned substances like ganja, hashish oil, and articles to fill the contrabands from them.

A case was also registered against two minor students who were found carrying the banned substances.

After having food at a hotel, a group of students stepped out to smoke ganja beedi and wanted a matchbox to light it.

A senior excise officer said they saw the rear of the excise office here and mistook it for a workshop and asked a matchbox.

"When they saw the officers suddenly, they sensed danger and ran out. But, all of them were caught. When we carried out a check, banned substances were recovered," he told PTI.

A case was registered under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, against two students from whom the substances were seized.

All students were given counselling.

"The rest of the students were sent back with their teachers. But, in the case of those two students, parents were summoned and sent them along with them only," he said.

According to officials, drug abuse was rampant during school and college excursions in the state.

"In this particular case, students were said to have pooled money to buy the substance from some drug peddlers," he said.

The department decided to go ahead with legal proceedings against the students, he added.-PTI