Nabarangpur: In a major breakthrough, Nabarangpur police confiscated properties worth around Rs 4.59 crore and 10 bank accounts of three siblings and their kin engaged in inter-state ganja smuggling, Wednesday.
The accused included three siblings and five of their kin. The action was taken following an order by the competent authority of Kolkata office of the Union Ministry of Finance. This is the highest ever freezing of properties by the state police under the NDPS Act.
A police team led by Papadahandi SDPO Aditya Sen and comprising Kosagumuda and Kodinga IIC Sarita Mohapatra visited the houses of the accused and stuck the property attachment notices on their walls
The accused were identified as Prabhakar Mali, Anirudha Mali and Ramesh Mali of Panarguda village under Kosagumda police limits in the district. Police have arrested Prabhakar while Ramesh and Aniruddh are absconding.
The breakthrough came after cases on ganja smuggling were registered against the siblings at Kosagumuda police station and Papadahandi police station as well as in Borigumma police station in the neighbouring Koraput district.
Police said the accused were involved in smuggling contraband to various locations in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
The accused assisted by their kin used to bring the contraband from Koraput and Malkangiri districts and smuggled them to various locations.
The attached properties were held in the name of the three siblings and kin Bansidhar Mali, Muralidhar Mali, Madhusudan Mali, Kumari and Nilendri Mali.
The properties includes four buildings, 4.82 acre land, a bullet motorcycle, a scooter, a car and two tractors whose value added up to Rs4.77 crore.
Rs9.76 lakh in the bank account was also seized while tracing the illegal cash transaction of Rs Rs 4.59 crore linked to 10 bank accounts. The breakthrough came after SP Nitin Kusalkar formed a special team and directed a probe into ganja smuggling.
The team conducted a probe for over a month and recommended the confiscation of the properties.
PNN