Bhubaneswar: Kandhamala Police on Friday arrested the ninth and final accused in a major interstate ganja smuggling case, marking a significant milestone in the investigation.
The accused, identified as Rupesh Pradhan, was apprehended from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing a press conference, Kandhamala Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramendra Prasad said that with the arrest of Rupesh Pradhan, all nine accused allegedly involved in the narcotics trafficking network have now been arrested.
“This is an interstate NDPS case involving a well-organised ganja smuggling racket. The latest arrest was made in Visakhapatnam, taking the total number of accused arrested in the case to nine,” the SP said.
Police said the alleged mastermind of the racket, Dilip Gowda of Ganjam district, had been arrested earlier. Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of other members of the syndicate operating across multiple states.
Of the nine accused arrested so far, six are from Odisha, while one each is from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
The investigation has exposed a well-established interstate narcotics trafficking network. Police have also dealt a major financial blow to the syndicate by freezing assets worth approximately Rs 4 crore.
The frozen assets include Rs 16 lakh in various bank accounts, landed property worth around Rs 2 crore, jewellery valued at approximately Rs 30 lakh, and other movable and immovable assets.
The SP said Rupesh Pradhan was the last absconding accused in the case. With his arrest, all those allegedly involved in the racket have now been brought within the ambit of the investigation.
Further investigation is underway to ascertain the wider links of the trafficking network and identify any additional associates.
