Bhubaneswar: Excise sleuths of Keonjhar district with the help of a mobile unit arrested five persons on charges of smuggling Mahua flower worth over Rs 1 crore during a raid at Banpar village under Town police limits in Keonjhar district, on Monday.
The Excise officials also seized five vehicles including four Bolero vans and a truck used for smuggling of Mahua flowers. A total of five persons including three drivers and two helpers have been arrested in this connection. However, two others managed to flee the scene.
District Superintendent of Police Dibyaranjan Deep said, “The vehicles were transporting Mahua flowers from Raipur area to East Singhbhum in Jharkhand. On a tip-off, we launched a raid and caught smugglers red-handed while transporting Mahua flowers weighing 280 quintals in a 16-wheeler truck and four Bolero vans. The raid was conducted in view of the upcoming general elections in the state.”
Sources said police will interrogate the accused identified as Ramjee Kuanwar of Bihar, Gura Munda of Dhrupada village, Giridhari Naik of Janardanpur, Raja Munda of Judiasahi under Town police limits and Sabyasachi Munda of Katha Karanjia under Sadar police limits to extract more information about the illegal trade.
