Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police Friday arrested a notorious narcotics smuggler and recovered a whooping three quintals of marijuana (ganja) which he was supposed to deliver to receivers in neighbouring Jharkhand. Interestingly, the police said Rahul Sethi, the alleged smuggler, was intercepted with the narcotics consignment in his car when he was on his way to meet his three associates lodged in the Jharpada jail.
A senior officer at the anti-narcotics cell of the City police, which made the detection, said apart from the narcotics consignment having a street value of around Rs 3 lakh, the cops have also seized two cars (used for peddling drugs) Rs 14,000 and three mobile phones of Sethi, a native of Balasore. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Sarat Kumar Sahoo said Sethi had been evading arrest since a long. During interrogation, the police learnt that he had procured the Marijuana consignment from Chitrakonda area of Malkangiri, and was supposed to deliver it to some peddlers in Jharkhand. Sahoo said the anti-narcotics cell sleuths were tipped off about Sethi’s movement early Friday and accordingly laid a trap near Pahala area.
Upon spotting his car, the waiting police team stopped the vehicle and swiftly rounded up Sethi. During a search of the vehicle, the contraband was found concealed in hidden chambers below the seats. During interrogation, Sethi allegedly told the police that he had planned to meet his associates- Rajesh Das, Ravi Shankar Das and Kishore Prasad Das at Jharphada Jail. They are all natives of Jharkhand and are presently lodged at the jail in some offence. The cops are still trying to find out why would Sethi take the risk of visiting the prison inmates with a massive consignment of narcotics in his car.
Meanwhile, Sahoo said Sethi was in touch with narcotics syndicates in big cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. He would splurge his earnings from the crime on luxury hotels and vacation trips. The Commissionerate Police booked the accused under Sections 20 (B) (II) (C) and 29 of NDPS Act and produced him before a special court for remand.
DEBADURLLAV HARICHANDAN, OP
