ONGOLE: The Prakasam district police successfully arrested a gang of five persons involved in ganja smuggling and various criminal activities, including thefts and housebreaking across multiple districts.
During the operation, approximately 1,350 kilograms of ganja, 303 grams of gold jewellery, Rs 6,700 in cash, and a motorbike valued at around Rs 23.18 lakh were seized from the suspects. District Superintendent of Police (SP) AR Damodar, along with other officials, disclosed the details of the arrests and recovered items to the media at the District Police Office (DPO) on Monday.
The primary suspect, Mehdi Hussain (36), hailing from Dhobi Pada in Nuapada, Odisha, is a known ganja smuggler. Under the direction of Rayapati Jagadish, a ganja trader from Visakhapatnam, he frequently travelled to Ongole to supply local smugglers.
Hussain had a theft case registered against him in Kasimkota, Visakhapatnam district. He met with other suspects, including Shaik Krupa Rao (36), Vadisana Venugopala Reddy (25), Shaik Tarun (19), and Avula Brahmaiah (27), for a business discussion at a vacant real estate site near the Podili BSNL office.
Acting on a reliable tip-off, Podili CI T Venkateswarlu and his team arrested the five suspects, who subsequently confessed to their crimes.