MALKANGIRI: In a massive haul, Malkangiri police seized 2,256 kg ganja worth over Rs 3 crore from a coal-laden truck at Orkel and arrested three persons on Monday. The arrested trio was identified as Pavan Pandey (25) and Krishna Yadav (21) of Amuvahi village in Pratapgarh and Amarjeet Yadav (26) of Nihanwa in Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. The contraband was being transported to UP.
Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Chitrakonda Anshuman Dwivedi said a team of Orkel police led by sub-inspector K Saha intercepted a goods truck early in the morning. Since the vehicle, laden with coal, was covered with polythene with a small door at the rear, police became suspicious. On opening the rear door, the police team found 94 packets of ganja weighing 2,256 kg.
Three persons including the driver were arrested under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The value of the seized contraband will be more than Rs 3 crore in the market, Dwivedi said.
During interrogation, the arrested persons told police that they were transporting the ganja from Chitrakonda to Raipur in Chhattisgarh. Three mobile phones and a registration certificate besides the truck have been seized.
In similar incidents in Ganjam, ganja weighing around 1,280 kg and worth over Rs 1.5 crore was seized by Excise official from two different places on the day. A squad of Excise department detained a banana-laden truck escorted by a car on NH-16 near Haladiapadar. During search, 1,140 kg of ganja packed in sacks were found in the truck. Another 110 kg of the contraband was found in the escort car. As many seven persons were arrested in this connection and both the vehicles seized.
In the second incident, Excise squad detained a bus enroute to Bhubaneswar at Pukudibandh Chowk on NH-16 and seized a packet containing 30 kg of ganja from a staffer of a private courier company. The staffer has been arrested.