BARIPADA: A 30-year-old woman of Sungadia under Ward no 20 within Baripada police limits was arrested by the Special Flying Squad of the State Excise department on Monday for peddling brown sugar. The accused was identified as Happo Gadei.
Around 182 gram of the drug worth more than Rs 18 lakh was seized from her house during the raid. As many as 12 officials headed by superintendent Dhaneswar Behera, on a tip-off, conducted raids at Gadei’s house and some other locations of the town on the day.
“Basing on the information received from reliable sources, the team conducted raids in Sungadia and Baripada bus terminal areas and seized the brown sugar from Gadei’s residence on Monday morning,” said Behera adding that there are some other persons involved who possibly supplied her the drugs which she peddled in Baripada and its periphery.
A case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 was registered against the woman. She was produced in Baripada SDJM court and remanded in judicial custody after her bail plea was rejected.
Reportedly, Sungadia is considered one of the major brown sugar peddling hubs after Jaleswar and Arad Bazar towns of Balasore. But neither the Excise department nor the police have been able to check the menace.