HYDERABAD: In a joint operation, sleuths with the LB Nagar Special Operations Team (SOT) and Keesara police on Wednesday arrested three persons while they were transporting 410 kg of ganja to Maharashtra. However, four persons involved in the racket are on the run.
In the early hours of Wednesday, the accused were headed to Maharashtra from Bhadrachalam in two vehicles when they were caught by the police at the toll gate in Keesara. The arrested persons were identified as Gudlanaram Venkata Narayana, a native of Nagarkurnool district, Dabbadi Rajinikanth and Yacharam Nagaraju, while the main organiser Mandali Srinivas, supplier Sathi Babu from Bhadrachalam and receivers Shaheen and Mahid, both from Maharashtra, are absconding, a police official said.
Mahesh Bhagwat, Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda, said, “Venkata has been into ganja smuggling since 2019 and turned it into his full-time business for easy money. With his contacts, he procure ganja from the border area of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha for a price of Rs 3,000 per kilo and would sell it for Rs 12,000 to Shaheen and Mahid in Maharashtra.”