Two persons including a primary school teacher from Uttar Pradesh were caught by the Uttarakhand police special task force while trying to smuggle about 50 kilogrammes of hash transported from Nepal into Uttarakhand. The two were trying to smuggle the contraband hidden in a duplicate fuel tank of the jeep they were in. According to the STF, the cost of the contraband seized is about `2.50 crore in the international market. The seizure is also stated to be the biggest haul of hash recovered by the STF since creation of the state.
According to the official statement issued on Sunday, the STF Uttarakhand deputy superintendent of police Kailash Chandra Panwar received a tip-off about a heavy quantity of the cannabis plant resin from Nepal to be smuggled from Bahraich in UP to Saharanpur and Uttarakhand. The informant had told the police that a heavy quantity of hash had been concealed in a white coloured Bolero jeep. Acting on the tip-off the STF senior superintendent of police P Renuka Devi formed a team under Panwar which maintained surveillance on directions of senior officials. On Sunday, the STF team stopped the suspect vehicle with license plate number UP 40U 8503 at Haridwar Road near the Indian Institute of Petroleum under the purview of Nehru Colony police station. Search the vehicle for the contraband, the team found that along side the original fuel tank of the jeep, the suspects had also fixed a duplicate tank. According to the STF team, the part of the jeep in question had been modified in such a manner that the diesel was being supplied to the jeep’s engine through the duplicate tank whereas the original tank had been used for filling a considerable quantity of hash. The two men were arrested by the police and ascertained their identities as Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh residents Ram Bhullan and Prithvi Raj. The STF team recovered a total of 50 kilos of hash which the duo was trying to smuggle. The contraband is worth more than Rs two crore in the international market, according to the police.
On questioning, one of the duo, Ram Bhullan said that he is employed on the post of teacher in the lalli Devi primary school at Kesarganj Bahraich. He was to supply the hash brought from Nepal to Uttarakhand apart from Saharanpur in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. According to the STF team, information regarding other persons involved in the supply of hash is also being collected.
It will be recalled that on December 11, the Uttarakhand police had organised a “mega-marathon” against substance abuse and corruption. As part of the anti-substance abuse campaign, the STF made different hash seizures so far including the seizure of 3.4 kg on November 16, 14 kg on December 4, 15 kg on December 12 and 1.4 kg on December 16. In all, the STF has recovered a total of 84 kg hash in two months.