The Jeypore Sadar police seized more than a tonne of ganja and arrested eight persons for alleged transportation of the contraband. The seized Ganja exactly weighed 10 quintals, 5 kg and 500 grams, the approximate market price of which is over Rs40 lakh, said Borigumma SDPO Udhhab Charan Nayak.
On the night of Monday, Jeypore Sadar PS IIC Govinda Chandra Buruda got a specified tipoff about the transportation of the ganja. A police team laid a trap for the transporters in the Pattraput area. During the late hours of Tuesday, police nabbed the transporters and seized the ganja from three different vehicles.
The ganja was kept in coconut-carrying bags to evade public notice. Police seized 45 bags of ganja and 40 bags of coconuts covering the contraband.
Out of the eight arrested persons, two, Hruday Narayan Pandey and Akhilesh Tiwari, are from Allahabad of Uttar Pradesh. They used a 709 vehicle of UP registration for peddling ganja along with two local vehicles. Of the remaining accused, police identified five from Muchingput of Andhra Pradesh and one Ramesh Panigrahi from Jalaput of Odisha. “We are trying to find out the owner of the ganja as well as the local transporters and suppliers involved in the ganja peddling, and the dealer network will be exposed soon,” said the SDPO.
All eight accused were arrested under Section 120 B of IPC and Sections 28(B, C) and 29 of NDPC and forwarded to court on Wednesday.