Bhubaneswar: The Special Crime Unit (SCU) of the Commissionerate Police have busted an inter-state syndicate of cannabis traffickers with the seizure of 300 Kg of ganja (cannabis) worth around Rs 30 lakh and the arrest of three persons.
The SCU has also seized an SUV and a car used in the transportation of the contraband, cash amounting to Rs 14,000 and three mobile phones from their possession.
The accused have been identified as Rajesh Das (34), Ravi Shankar Das (41), and Law Kishore Prasad Sahadev. They all hail from the neighbouring state of Jharkhand.
According to an official press release, the accused persons have been booked under the NDPS Act. They have been sent to jail custody following their production before the court.
The Narcotics wing of the SCU, led by Sanjeev Satpathy, Addl. DCP; K K Hariprasad, ACP; along with Inspector Santoshini Behera, Inspector Soumyaranjan Biswal; SI Tapana Swain and the dedicated team were constantly working on an input regarding transportation of cannabis from Chitrakonda of Malkangiri via Vizag on NH-16 to Jharkhand and Kolkata.
Based on reliable information on Sunday, the SCU team at 12.30 PM conducted blocking on NH-16 near Pitapali to detain two cars in which the traffickers would bring the cannabis. But the two cars defying the police road blocking sped on NH-16 towards Cuttack. The SCU team, which was aware of such activity, immediately chased the two cars and detained those near Pahala. The three persons who were in these cars and were responsible for such trafficking were also detained.
Ganja weighing 300 Kgs was seized from the two vehicles which had specially designed and fabricated secret chambers to hide the contraband.
The details of the ownership of these vehicles, and involvement in this illegal business is under investigation.
Accused Ravi Shankar Das is suspected to be the leader of this syndicate. He has acquired many high-end cars which he usually uses for such illegal transportation of cannabis. Out of the fleet of cars, two cars have been seized in this case.
Further investigation regarding the involvement of other accused persons in this trafficking is under investigation by SCU.
Police suspect that organized rackets of cannabis traffickers, who are operating inter-state, are involved in such illegal business.
The SCU has prayed to the court for three days’ police remand of the accused persons for the collection of further evidence in this case
