Ahmedabad’s Special Operations Group (SOG) arrested a 28-year-old Odisha resident and seized 4.007 kg of ganja, or cannabis, worth ₹2 lakh after finding the contraband concealed beneath clothes in his travel bag aboard the Kakinada–Bhavnagar Express.[1] The accused was named as Krishna Parida, a resident of Mathura village in Khalikote taluka of Ganjam district, Odisha, and police said he was carrying the consignment to a man in Vadodara.[1] An SOG team began checking passengers at Maninagar railway station around noon on 30 October as part of a drive against narcotics smuggling and illegal weapons.[1] The team boarded train number 12755, the Kakinada–Bhavnagar Express, when it arrived at 12.50 pm to inspect passengers travelling towards Ahmedabad.[1] Officers noticed Parida sitting on seat 51 in a general coach with a blue Skybags college bag, and he allegedly admitted the bag contained ganja when questioned.[1] He was detained when the train reached platform 3 at Ahmedabad railway station, and the team took him to the SOG office for the seizure procedure because the crowded platform was unsuitable.[1]

Police said they found two khaki-coloured packets wrapped in adhesive tape and concealed beneath clothes inside the bag.[1] The packets weighed 2.071 kg and 2.076 kg, a combined gross weight of 4.147 kg, and after 140 grams of packaging were deducted the net weight of the suspected ganja was recorded at 4.007 kg.[1] An officer from the Ahmedabad Forensic Science Laboratory conducted a preliminary examination that reportedly detected active ingredients associated with cannabis.[1] The total value of the seized articles, including a mobile phone, ₹5,920 in cash and other belongings, was estimated at ₹2.16 lakh.[1]

Parida allegedly told police he bought the ganja from Rakesh Rao, a resident of Kodala in Ganjam district, for ₹17,000 on 29 October.[1] He said he boarded a train at Rajahmundry railway station without a ticket and travelled to Gujarat in a general coach.[1] He was supposed to deliver the consignment to a man named Vishal in Vadodara, and when Vishal failed to turn up at Vadodara railway station, Parida continued to Ahmedabad.[1] A case was registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and investigators are working to trace the alleged supplier and intended recipient and to establish whether the consignment was linked to a wider drug-smuggling network.[1]