Balasore: Two persons were arrested in Balasore district on charges of possessing brown sugar by the Special Task Force (STF) of Crime Branch.
Brown sugar weighing 301 grams, Rs 2,22,230 cash, mobile phones, bank debit cards and other incriminating material were also recovered from the possession of the two accused.
Acting on an intelligence input, the sleuths raided a place near NH-16 under the Industrial Police Station limits on Monday night and detained the two persons, SK Haider and Tanmaya Bhuyan. During interrogation, the duo could not produce any valid authority in support of possession of the contraband. They were arrested and forwarded to the court of District and Session Judge, Balasore on Tuesday.
A release issued by the Crime Branch office said the duo had procured the brown sugar from a notorious drug peddler in Balasore. Investigation into the case is on.
The STF has conducted raids at various places in Puri, Balasore, Angul, Khordha, Pipili, Dhenkanal, Bhubaneswar and Bhadrak areas in past 20 days. The sleuths arrested 19 persons and seized a total of 818 grams of brown sugar, 326.45 grams of opium and cash Rs 13.20 lakh. The STF has registered eight cases against drug peddlers.
