Bhubaneswar: Brown sugar, seized by police and Excise officials, registered eight-fold increase in Odisha in 4 years, according to the data furnished by Revenue Minister Aswini Patra.
In a written reply in the Assembly on Saturday, the minister said while 4.5 kg of brown sugar was seized in 2018-19 financial year, it went up to 32.51 kg in 2022-23.
Giving the details of the seized contraband in the four years, Patra said besides the brown sugar, 78.44 quintal of ganja was seized in 2018-19. As many as 69 persons were arrested and 545 cases under NDPS Act registered during the period.
The seized ganja in 2019-20 went up to 85.26 quintal but brown sugar dropped to 2.96 kg. Total 402 cases were registered and 440 persons arrested under NDPS Act.
In 2020-21, when the state was under the grip of COVID pandemic, the seized ganja shot up to 170.21 quintal while 3.83 kg of brown sugar was seized. The authorities arrested 398 persons and registered 381 cases during the year, said the minister.
In the following year of 2021-22, the contraband smuggling witnessed a sharp rise as 301.36 quintal of ganja and 11.66 kg of brown sugar were seized. As many as 686 cases were registered against the offenders and 769 persons arrested for the crime in the year.
Maintaining the rising trend, 413.30 quintal of ganja and 32.51 kg of brown sugar were seized in 2022-23. During the year, a whopping 2,232 offenders were arrested and 1,949 cases registered.
The minister further said 219.58 quintal of ganja and 17.62 kg of brown sugar have been seized till August in financial year 2023-24. Total 990 persons have been arrested and 835 cases registered, he added.
