Rayagada: Excise sleuths seized 4.5 tonne ganja valued at around Rs 2.5 crore and arrested two persons in Odisha’s Rayagada district on Thursday while the contraband was being smuggled to New Delhi.
An intensive patrolling was in progress by a team of excise department on the outskirt of Rayagada town when a truck moving in at high speed was spotted. As the vehicle bearing a Chhattisgarh registration number tried to speed away, the excise personnel chased it, sources said.
The truck was intercepted and searched. Initially, around 150 sacks containing cattle feed were found, but a thorough search led to the recovery of high-quality ganja, Rayagada Excise Superintendent Abhiram Behera said.
“The contraband, stacked in 127 sacks, weighed around 4,500 kg. The estimated value of the seized ganja is estimated at around Rs 2.5 crore,” he said adding that two persons have been arrested.
The accused have been identified as Dinesh Kumar and Chandan, both from Delhi, Behera said, adding that a preliminary probe indicated that the contraband was being smuggled to Delhi. Further investigation is in progress, he added.
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