Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Police have finally managed to nab Anil Kumar Pandi (39) alias Sitaram alias Raja Pandi, who is considered to be one of the most notorious narcotics traffickers from Odisha.
Pandi is accused of running a pan-India network. He was allegedly one of Gujarat’s biggest Ganja suppliers.
Pandi was taken to Ahmedabad after his arrest. The police claimed that his arrest has exposed a major racket involved in the trade of Ganja from Odisha to Gujarat and other states.
According to Sharad Singhal, joint commissioner of police, Crime Branch, Pandi arrived in Surat in 2013 and rose from a small-time handler to a key supplier. A graduate, Pandi lived a lavish lifestyle, owning a luxurious bungalow in Chhachina in the Kodala police station area of Odisha’s Ganjam district.
Pandi had been arrested by the Odisha Special Task Force (STF) in 2021 in a massive 990-kg Ganja seizure case. He secured bail soon thereafter and resumed his activities. He has 12 criminal cases pending in Gujarat and was absconding for several years.
In 2022, the STF attached property worth Rs 2.35 crore belonging to Pandi. The properties seized under the NDPS Act included a palatial three-storied building having luxurious facilities including a swimming pool and 33 plots and bank deposits.
Investigators revealed that narcotics trafficking runs deep in the family. Pandi’s father and brother were also booked in Ganja-smuggling cases. His brother was previously arrested in another drugs case.
The police have claimed that Pandi masterminded a sophisticated supply chain, sourcing cannabis cultivated in Naxal-affected regions of Odisha. The consignments were then transported to Gujarat using long-distance trains, trucks, and hired transporters.
Once in Ahmedabad, the Ganja was stored in rented godowns in Vatva and rural outskirts. Several of these warehouses have been identified.
“He had hired labourers solely to handle and move the consignments,” an official said, adding that the operation ran with near-industrial efficiency.
Investigators now believe he acted as one of Gujarat’s principal Ganja suppliers, maintaining active links across multiple states. The Crime Branch has launched a broader probe to identify his associates, handlers and financiers, trace additional warehouses, and determine the full scale of the network.
