BHOPAL: A property dealer from Bihar, his associate, a prominent farmer from Jharkhand and an automobile businessman from Odisha have emerged as key players in a massive inter-state ganja(cannabis) smuggling racket sourcing consignments from Naxal-affected areas of the eastern state.
A few weeks ago, the Madhya Pradesh police’s special task force (MPSTF) seized a truck housing multiple compartments/chambers, where 600 kg of ganja was concealed for supply to several states.
The seizure, made in Madhya Pradesh’s Anuppur district along the Chhattisgarh–MP border, was valued at Rs 1.80 crore under NDPS Act norms. The consignment was meant to be smuggled to multiple states after being stashed for a few days in the jungles of eastern MP’s Maihar district.
From Maihar, the consignment was to be routed to Arrah town in western Bihar and then distributed to multiple cannabis smuggling networks, which would have peddled it in pubs, restaurants, hotels and even boys’ and girls’ hostels, eyeing the high-demand period from New Year celebrations to Valentine’s Day.
“Youngsters, including college goers and even young working professionals were the main target (customer base) for the multiple cannabis smuggling gangs, who would have taken it secretly from Arah (Bihar) to West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” sources associated with ongoing police probe have confided to the TNIE.
During the seizure of the truck carrying 600 kg of cannabis, which was en route from Odisha to Maihar (MP), two drivers from Sidhi and Satna districts of eastern MP, were arrested.
Interrogation of the drivers led the STF team to Jharkhand, resulting in the arrest of a prominent farmer, Ramesh Lal, who had spent Rs 37 lakh to procure the truck and modify it with multiple hidden compartments for safe drug smuggling.
Further investigation revealed that the core of the racket was based in Arrah town of Bihar, where a man, Bhupendra Singh, who posed as a builder, was actually running the flourishing inter-state cannabis smuggling network with the help of his key associate, Dilip Kumar.
“He had paid to the middleman in Odisha, Rs 35 lakh in advance for the cannabis consignment, which was to be smuggled to multiple states of eastern and northern India, eyeing to earn Rs 3 to 4 crore, out of the 600 kg cannabis, valued at around Rs 1.80 crore. It was the fourth time in three months that such a big consignment of cannabis was being smuggled in the modified truck by Bhupendra’s network, which is famous as the Golden Gang in western Bihar,” additional SP (MP STF HQ) Rajesh Singh Bhadauria said.
While the MPSTF has formed multiple teams to apprehend Bhupendra and Dilip in Bihar, another specialised unit, led by Deputy SP Santosh Tiwari, was dispatched to Odisha to trace the source of the cannabis smuggled by Bihar’s Golden Gang to various parts of eastern, northern, and central India.
The team finally found the unending stretch of illegal ganja cultivation in the jungles in the Kotpad area of Koraput district of Odisha, which since long has been a hotbed of armed Maoist cadres.
“Entire stretch ranging up to several kilometers had nothing but illegal Ganja plantations in the densely forested hilly area, where no one easily ventured. The illegal Ganja growers spread the cannabis seeds during July-August and reaped the rich harvest in October, before engaging locales to pluck the dried flowers (buds) and pack it for being smuggled elsewhere in India,” deputy SP (STF-Jabalpur Unit) Santosh Tiwari said.
Further investigations revealed that a man who ran an automobile business in Koraput was actually the main link between the Ganja cultivators and the Golden Gang’s network in Bihar. He also worked with other ganja smuggling networks, particularly those operating from Visakhapatnam (AP).
“Our probe has so far revealed that Arrah in western Bihar and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh are key centres from where the big narcotics smuggling networks are getting their supplies, originally sourced from naxal hit areas of Odisha, including Malkangiri also,” investigators added.
Multiple teams formed by the MPSTF HQ in the case are now trying to establish the money trail between Bihar’s Golden Gang and Odisha’s main Ganja suppliers. “We’re particularly trying to figure out whether Bhupendra, who owns a palatial four-storied house in Arrah (Bihar) was actually investing earnings from the real estate business into narcotics smuggling or vice versa. Multiple teams are now conducting raids for Bhupendra and aide Dilip, besides also trying to track and nab the automobile businessman from Odisha, who was the Golden Gang’s link to the illegal Ganja plantations in Odisha,” sources added.
Just a few days after the truck with 600 kg ganja was seized on the MP-Chhattisgarh border, a similar truck was seized in Balrampur district of Chhattisgarh. Probe has revealed that ganja sources from Odisha were actually being routed to its destination via circuitous route, often through the naxal hit region of Chhattisgarh.