Goa's beaches under police scanner again

Easy availability of drugs on Goa's beaches, which are popular with tourists, has come into focus once again following the death of a Russian teenager.
       
Russian girl Elena Sukhanova was found dead on the railway tracks two months ago. The police, quoting from their two- month long probe into the case, have said banned psychotropic substances are accessible on the state's coast.

The 19-year-old Russian used to take drugs such as hashish, cocaine and ecstasy and she had mentioned this to some people who were later listed as witnesses in the case, according to the investigation report signed by Superintendent of Police Tony Fernandes.

Sukhanova's mutilated body was found on railway tracks near here on May 6. Police initially investigated the case from murder angle, but later treated it as accidental death.

In their report, police have said Sukhanova had asked her friends how to roll hashish and had even sent an SMS to a local vendor asking whether she can get cocaine.

Two years back, the coastal state was in news for its drug-infested beaches after British teenager Scarlett Eden Keelings was drugged, raped and left to die on Anjuna beach.

The police had initiated an anti-drugs drive on the beaches and stopped shacks from operating past mid-night.