BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police on Saturday arrested four persons, including a woman in Bhadrak district, and seized 1.9 kg brown sugar worth over Rs 1 crore from their possession.
The police have also seized Rs 1 lakh cash from accused SK Abdul Hamid, Manoj Kumar Das, Ajay Kumar Sarangi, and his sister-in-law Kunilata Sarangi.
During motor vehicle checking at about 9 am, Bhadrak rural police station officers intercepted an auto-rickshaw at Charampa on National Highway-16 and noticed that the activities of the four persons were suspicious.
The police then conducted the search of the auto-rickshaw and seized the contraband from the vehicle.
"According to the preliminary investigation, Ajay along with Kunilata and Manoj went to Jaleswar in Balasore district in his auto-rickshaw to procure the contraband from a drug peddler. The drug supplier sent SK Abdul, one of his associates, with the trio when they were returning to Bhadrak," Bhadrak SP Charan Singh Meena told The New Indian Express.
SK Abdul of Balasore's Singla area was also carrying some amount of the seized brown sugar with him to sell it in the Bhadrak district and in the nearby areas.
The rural police have registered a case in this connection. The four accused have been arrested and the auto-rickshaw used to transport the brown sugar has been seized.
"The district police has launched an anti-narcotics drive and 18 cases have been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act this year. Four kg brown sugar and 31 kg ganja have been seized and 45 drug peddlers arrested," added Meena.