In a major success, cops seized about 700 kg of ganja (cannabis) whose expected market value is estimated at Rs 1.5 crore from a truck in Balod district, police said on Wednesday.
The vehicle bearing Uttar Pradesh registration number loaded with cannabis was intercepted under the limits of Daundi lohara police station area on Balod-Rajnandgaon road on Tuesday evening,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Balod, Sheikh Arif Hussain said.
“We had received inputs that a huge consignment of cannabis was being moved through the district in a vehicle with registration number of some other State,” the SP said.
Accordingly, patrolling was intensified and checkpoints were set up at several places in the district.
late on Tuesday evening, police personnel at Daundi lohara spotted a mini truck moving at a high speed towards Rajnandgaon road and driver of the truck after spotting the police quickly changed its course and tried speeding away, the SP said.
The vehicle was chased for about 1-2 kms and it was found abandoned on road side near Dhan Mandi (paddy storage centre). The driver and helper were missing from the vehicle. It was filled with some scrap, the SP added.
“The truck was carefully examined on Wednesday and it was found that that about 95 packets of ganja wrapped in airtight packages each weighing about 6-7 kilograms were tucked inside a compartment in the trolley of the truck,” the SP said.
In all, the total weight of packets is around 700 kg and its estimated market value is approximately Rs 1.5 crore, the officer said while adding that probably it is the highest quantity of cannabis ever recovered in Chhattisgarh.
According to the police, the consignment was suspected to have been loaded from Odisha and was on its way to Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, police has registered a case under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and are investigating.