Odisha STF Arrests 3 Inter-State Traffickers With 148 Kg Ganja; Hunt On For Mastermind

Bhubaneswar: Special Task Force (STF) officials of Odisha Police arrested three inter-state ganja traffickers and seized a huge quantity of cannabis from them during a special operation in Bhubaneswar.

Acting on intelligence input, a raid was conducted by a team of STF on National Highway-16 in Bhubaneswar, Khordha on Monday against illegal transportation of narcotic drugs to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, a press release said on Tuesday.

The STF officials intercepted a truck loaded with contraband ganja cleverly concealed inside stock of batteries and also apprehended three accused persons.

The accused have been identified as Mahendra Pal (48) of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh , Arun Mahto (38) of Begusarai in Bihar and Sunny Kumar (20) of Pilbhit in UP.

During search, contraband ganja weighing 148 kg was found kept concealed in the battery loaded truck. The truck along the contraband ganja was seized from their possession.

The accused persons could not produce any valid authority in support of transportation of such contraband materials, for which they were arrested.

During investigation, it was learnt that a few days back the accused persons loaded the consignment of batteries at Vijaynagaram in Andhra Pradesh to be delivered in Patna in Bihar. On their way back, they had halted near Girisola, Berhampur on NH-16 and waited for the direction of their mastermind.

The mastermind who was also present at Berhampur, but not travelling in the truck, had procured the contraband ganja from the peddlers of Ganjam- Gajapati bordering area. The mastermind then travelled in train and remained in continuous touch with persons in truck.  They changed the phone and SIM numbers after Berhampur.

The mastermind, who has been absconding in West Bengal area, has been identified. A team of STF is tracking him and will be arrested soon.