VISAKHAPATNAM: The Vizag rural police, on Monday, arrested seven persons who procured 84 kg of ganja by browbeating two smugglers and made `1.68 lakh after selling the contraband, in Koyyuru police station limits.
According to Koyyuru Circle Inspector Mallikarjuna Rao, around a week ago, a lorry driver and his cleaner procured 168 kg ganja from interior areas of Visakhapatnam agency and were smuggling it to East Godavari district. The duo stored the hemp in a secret cabin above driver’s cabin of the vehicle. However, the vehicle broke down near Koyyuru police station limits and while the duo was trying to repair it in a remote village, seven youth who came to know that the duo were transporting ganja, threatened them of informing the police. The duo fled out of fear, leaving the vehicle and the contraband.
The seven accused spotted the secret cabin, took out 84 kg of ganja stored in it and sold it for `1.68 lakh. The remaining ganja was hidden in the houses of two of the accused.
Acting on a tip-off, Koyyuru police Inspector R Mallikarjuna Rao and his team arrested the accused at Pallavuru village outskirts of Koyyuru police station limits in the wee hours of Monday.
The police seized the remaining ganja, `1.17 lakh in cash, and the van which was used by the accused to smuggle ganja.
The arrested have been identified as M Venkata Ramana (35), D Veera Babu (32), T Somanna (40), D Srinu (26), M Chakravarthy (22), T Nagendra (32), all hailing from Koyyuru mandal and a habitual ganja smuggler K Suribabu (37), resident of East Godavari district. Suribabu already has three cases against him registered in Butchayyapeta and Jaddangi police stations.