CUTTACK: About Rs 5 lakh worth of high quality ganja was seized from a Bhubaneswar-bound SUV which was intercepted by Excise sleuths on the Mahanadi bridge in the wee hours of Thursday.
Two persons, including one Gagan Sahoo (30) of Bagedia under Chendipada police limits of Angul district, and the vehicle driver, Bibhuti Rout (21) of Rairakhol in Sambalpur district, were arrested.
Acting on intelligence inputs, the Excise Intelligence and Enforcement wing squad led by IIC Amar Jena tracked down the vehicle and cornered it as it was crossing the Mahanadi bridge. About 1.8 quintal of high quality ganja, meant to be smuggled to Delhi by train, was recovered.
The Excise officials said, the duo reportedly confessed to regularly ferrying ganja from Angul and Sambalpur districts to New Delhi and other parts of the country. The contraband was packed in cartons in a manner that it could easily pass off as textiles goods, IIC Jena said.
Sahoo also acted as the conduit to channel the narcotics to Bhubaneswar station from where it was to be smuggled to Delhi. There was hefty sum to be made as the substance was purchased at Rs 1,000 per kg and was to be sold at Rs 5,000 a kg in Delhi, Jena said.