KOCHI: Police on Monday arrested five persons, including two women, and seized 41 kg of ganja in two separate incidents at Aluva and Perumbavoor. Ernakulam District Police Chief Vaibhav Saxena alerted the police force in the district as smuggling of ganja from other states has been on the rise in recent weeks.
In the first case, a police team intercepted a man and two women at Aluva railway station premises after they arrived from Odisha with 35 kg of ganja. The arrested persons are Satya Naik, 28, of Kalahandi, Odisha, Asanti Thakur, 39, of Rayagad, Odisha and Asha Pramod Lima, 36, of Rayagad, Odisha.
It was on Monday morning that the trio reached Aluva railway station. Aluva police received a tip-off that the two women and a man who arrived at Aluva on a train were smuggling ganja in their trolley bag. Thus police launched a search operation at Aluva railway station premises and found the trio standing near the railway information office. Later, ganja was found concealed in packets in the trolley bags of the accused. Police found that the trio were carriers hired by an Odisha-based gang to smuggle ganja to Kerala. The arrested persons were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.
Later, Perumbavoor police arrested two West Bengal natives and seized six kg of ganja from their possession at Perumbavoor. The arrested persons are Kajol Sheikh, 22, of Murshidabad, West Bengal, and Navaj Sharif Bishwas, 29, of Madhubani, West Bengal.
The duo were intercepted at Palakkattuthazham, Perumbavoor, in the wee hours. The duo procured ganja from West Bengal and reached Kerala by train. After deboarding at Aluva station, they were travelling towards Perumbavoor in an autorickshaw when the police team intercepted the accused. Later, they were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.