Birmaharajpur /Jeypore: In a combing operation by Special Task Force (STF) and local police of Both Subarnapur and Koraput districts seized a huge cache of cannabis, Monday.
Six persons in this connection were arrested from both the districts.
In the first case, acting on a tip-off, the Special Task Force (STF) along with local police in Birmaharajpur intercepted a pick-up truck in Subalaya area in Subarnapur district. During the search operation police seized around 4.8 quintals of ganja. As per police records, the cost of the seized contraband in the black market is around Rs 30 lakh.
During the seizure, one person managed to flee from the spot while police arrested four accused for their alleged involvement in the smuggling.
The four accused have been identified as Narayan Patra from Kashalapur, Sanjay Meshawa from Rairakhol, Sourav Kumar Barik from Birmaharajpur and Sushil Mishra from Madhya Pradesh.
The cops also seized Rs. 9.77 lakh from their possession, a Honda City car and the pick-up van.
Similarly, two youths from Uttar Pradesh were arrested by Jeypore Sadar Police for allegedly smuggling 151 kg of ganja.
The accused were Sagar Choudhury and Akash Choudhury from Raya district of Uttar Pradesh.
Jeypore police came to know about the illegal smuggling of ganja from a reliable source. For this, the police intercepted a car going towards Raya district from Jalaput late night and found ganja packed in large polythene bags.
Two mobile phones, Rs 1,70,000 cash and the car were seized from their possession.
PNN