Cuttack: The District Excise squad here seized two quintals of ganja from a person travelling in the Patna-Puri Express Wednesday night.
Acting on a tip-off, the excise sleuths conducted a raid on the train while it was halted at the Cuttack Railway Station at around 1 am.
During the raid, the sleuths apprehended a person and recovered nearly two quintals of Marijuana from his possession.
Official sources said that the contraband item was illegally smuggled from Patna to Gandhipalli area in Cuttack and Haldiapalli area in Bhubaneswar.
“The arrested has been identified as Manas Ranjan Singh. As per preliminary interrogation, it has been ascertained that the marijuana was being smuggled from Patna to Cuttack while the value of the contraband is estimated to be at Rs 2 lakh. A big racket is suspected behind this and further investigation is on to nab other persons involved in the racket,” said an official.
Two days ago, the Chitrakonda Police seized 145 kilogram ganja, which was being trafficked in a car at Guntacheda in Malkangiri.
However, two persons who were transporting the contraband item managed to escape. Sources said that the ganja was being smuggled to Madhya Pradesh from Papulara of Chirtakonda.