HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Narcotic Enforcement Wing (H-NEW) sleuths on Saturday arrested four persons for their alleged involvement in the smuggling of ganja from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to the city. The cops also seized 72 kg of the banned drug from their possession.
The prime accused, Akash Singh, a resident of Dhoolpet, has been procuring ganja from the Visakhapatnam district in AP and Odisha since 2018, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Gummi Chakravarthy. The other arrested persons have been identified as Ramjal Narsimha, Neeraj Prasad Tiwari and Sheik Subhani.
He added that Subhani, who hails from Khammam, would sell the drug to consumers in the city. He was named in fives cases under the Hyderabad Police Commissionerate and detained under the Preventive Detention Act in 2021 and released in June this year.
Network of sub-peddlers
To carry out his operation, Subhani purchased a residential property at Katedan, where he would store the illegal drug, the DCP said, adding that he formed a network of four sub-peddlers — Shaik Chand, Mohammad Ayub, Ramjal and Neeraj — to make small packets containing 10 grams of ganja and supply it to consumers across the city.
Police have also identified 23 consumers from the contact list of Akash and other accused. They are in the process of tracing them so that appropriate action can be taken against the drug consumers.