Bhubaneswar: The Special Task Force (STF) has seized 49 kg of marijuana by intercepting two vehicles on National Highway-16 near Tangi area of Cuttack and claimed to have arrested five peddlers, including one from Bihar. Two four-wheelers and several incriminating materials have been seized from the possession of the accused, said a senior STF officer.
According to STF Superintendent Police (SP) Kishore Kumar Panigrahi, the accused were identified as Roshan Kumar Choudhury, 30, a native of Samastipur district in Bihar, Purna Chandra Mallik, 36, a native of Cuttack, Sandip Digal, 24, a native of Kandhamal, Bikash Kumar Pradhan, 30, a resident of Kandhamal and Manas Kumar Mallick, 22, of Cuttack.
“Acting on a tip-off, the STF sleuths along with twin city police laid a trap near NH-16 Saturday morning and when the vehicles neared the spot, the sleuths intercepted it and conducted a search. The officials rounded up the peddlers and found the contraband wrapped in a gunny bag,” said Panigrahi.
According to preliminary investigations, the arrested have confessed that they were transporting the contraband from Phulbani to Digha area of West Bengal. They were planning to sell the marijuana to local peddlers at a premium price, it added