Bhubaneswar: The Special Crime Unit (SCU) of twin city police Saturday busted an inter-state ganja smuggling syndicate with the arrest of its five operatives. A total of 1.3 quintals of the contraband has been seized following the arrests, police said.
The accused were identified as Pushpak Srichandan, 25, Milan Nayak, 23, SK Zamirullah, 36, Ajmer Sheikh, 28, and SK Samir, 39. Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said the prime accused Pushpak, who is a BTech graduate, established contacts with suppliers for the business. Two four-wheelers and other incriminating materials have been seized from the accused.
“The conduits of the syndicate procured the contraband from Kandhamal and sold those to suppliers in West Bengal,” Panda said, adding that the accused used to splurge their earnings on lavish lifestyle, and hire models from Kolkata to make social media reels.
The commissioner said the sleuths received tip-off around Friday midnight that the syndicate members were on their way from Tapanga area of Khurda to deliver a big contraband consignment in West Bengal. Accordingly, a trap was laid near Bomikhal area of the City. When the vehicle was sighted in the area, the waiting sleuths intercepted it and rounded up the occupants. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of the ganja kept in the boot of the car.
Investigations have revealed that the syndicate members purposefully chose afternoon hours – between 12 noon and 4 pm – to plan the transport of contraband consignments with a view to evade suspicion and police surveillance. They would earn around Rs one lakh per each delivery.
The accused were booked under relevant sections of the NDPS Act and produced before a local court Saturday for remand.
PNN