BHUBANESWAR: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Crime Branch has arrested notorious drug peddler Siba Prasad Das of Jatni and seized 1.227 kg of brown sugar worth Rs 1 crore from him.The officers intercepted Das near Pahal on Sunday and seized five mobile phones and a motorcycle along with the contraband from him.
Das is the prime accused of STF’s case registered in connection with the seizure of 3.1 kg brown sugar worth over Rs 3 crore from a rented house in Sinduria under Nayagarh Town police limits in the wee hours of January 25. The agency had nabbed K Vickey Rao of Jatni, an associate of Das, but others had managed to flee.
Apart from the contraband, STF officers had also seized Rs 65.32 lakh, three 7 mm pistols, seven magazines, 43 rounds of ammunition, a cash counting machine and four mobile phones from Rao.Das and his associates were supplying the contraband in Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Dhenkanal, Angul, among other places. They were procuring arms from Munger in Bihar and selling them in various parts of Odisha.
Das was earlier booked in six criminal cases in various districts of Odisha. He is a habitual offender and Rs 8 lakh have been seized from his bank accounts, which he had most likely obtained by selling the contraband, said STF DIG Jai Narayan Pankaj. STF officers have launched a financial investigation.
The agency will move the competent authority (eastern region) under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Kolkata requesting it to confiscate his property if he is found in possession of assets accumulated by illegal means.