Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam's brand image has been badly impacted as it is now the drug capital of Andhra Pradesh and senior TDP leaders are supporting the cocaine peddlers by safeguarding them and helping them go scot-free, alleged former IT minister Gudivada Amarnath.

Referring to the recent drug case at a media conference here on Tuesday, Amarnath pointed out that TDP leaders of the region, including local MP, have come to the rescue of the drug peddlers, mounting pressure on the police to save two of the five persons held for cocaine peddling. “It is a clear indication of how Visakhapatnam is being converted into a drug capital,” he claimed. Further talking about the drug case, Amarnath said, one person named Thomas, who landed from Delhi, was caught red-handed while he was giving 25 grams of cocaine to a person Akshay Kumar near AU premises. “After going through their call data, the police took another three persons into custody. Buttwo persons Gautham Jain and Koneru Raghu were excluded from the case. They went scot-free following tremendous pressure from the senior TDP leaders,” Amarnath mentioned, demanding a detailed inquiry into the incident. The former minister said setting two persons free in 24 hours in a drug case was quite rare. “The person who received the cocaine at the university is a close associate of an MP from the erstwhile East Godavari district,” he stated.

While YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during his tenure wanted to make Vizag executive capital, the coalition government is bent upon destroying its brand image and converting it into a drug capital, Amarnath criticised. “The coalition government only speaks loud about controlling drug trafficking but in reality, it is supporting drugpeddlers,” he reiterated.