Cuttack: The Excise Department arrested a woman and seized heroin worth over ₹10 lakh during a raid in Cuttack on Saturday.
According to official sources, a flying squad of the Excise Intelligence and Enforcement Bureau (EI & EB), Unit-I, Cuttack, detected a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 during a special operation conducted on March 7.
The accused has been identified as Sanuwari Bibi (40) of Imampada in Satichaura area under Markatnagar police station limits in Cuttack. Acting on specific inputs, the excise team conducted a raid near the Indian Oil petrol pump at Satichaura, where the woman was intercepted.
During the search, officials recovered 102 grams of heroin from her possession. The seized contraband is estimated to be worth around ₹10.2 lakh in the illegal market.
Following the seizure, the accused was arrested for alleged involvement in narcotics trafficking and booked under the provisions of the NDPS Act. She was later produced before a court and forwarded to judicial custody, officials said.
The raid was led by Inspector of Excise Susant Kumar Mohapatra and included SI Amit Kumar Biswal, SI SK Sakir Ulla, ASI AR Mallik, ASI Ajay Kumar Behera, Constable Gaurang Nayak, Lady Constables Annapurna Ganda and Sovita Mallik, and Constables Sankarshan Rout, Pabitra Kumar Dash, Jagannath Sahoo and Sibananda Sarangi.
Excise officials said further investigation is underway to ascertain the source and possible distribution network linked to the seized narcotics.
