Balasore: Acting on intelligence input, the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Crime Branch arrested a drug peddler and seized over one kilogram of brown sugar valued at more than Rs 1 crore from Soro area of Balasore district Thursday.
The accused has been identified as Babu alias Kalim, son of Sheikh Shabbir-ud-din of Kajimohalla locality under Soro police limits. The STF personnel got information from a reliable source that the arrested person was negotiating with different parties to sell the contraband item.
Swinging into action, the STF personnel conducted a raid on NH-16 opposite Hotel Leo International in Soro leading to the arrest.
Also read: Stray dogs campaign for woman sarpanch candidate in Ganjam
Following a thorough search, brown sugar weighing 1.100 kilogram including several incriminating instruments were recovered and seized from Kalim’s possession. As the accused person could not produce any valid document in support of possessing the brown sugar, he was arrested and will be forwarded to a local court later in the day.
“A case has been registered in this connection by STF under section 21(C)/29 of the NDPS Act, 1985,” a senior STF official informed.
It is pertinent to mention, the STF in its special drive since 2020 against narcotic drugs has seized a total of more than 48 Kg of brown sugar and heroin and over 89 quintals of ganja (cannabis). It has also arrested about 122 drug peddlers in connection with the cases.
Local police have seized a huge quantity of cannabis from Machhkund area of Koraput Thursday morning and also arrested a man in this connection. The accused ganja trader has been identified as Chandra Bada Nayak who is a resident of Pottangi block in the district.
Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of Machhkund and Lamtaput police detained a speeding car near Kamel village and conducted a thorough search. Following which, the police recovered 50 kilograms of ganja packed in two large sacks and later seized it. The cannabis was being smuggled from Andhra Pradesh to Chhattisgarh via Odisha.
Estimated value of the seized contrabrand in open market would be around Rs 5 lakh. A detailed investigation into the case is underway to find out involvement of others, if any, said a senior police official.
PNN