Ahraura police in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district arrested Viresh Kumar Mahto near KD Hotel on Friday 30 October 2026 after a tip-off.[1] Police described Mahto as a ganja (cannabis) smuggler with a ₹25,000 reward offered for him.[1] A search found 10 kg 100 g of ganja and ₹11,000 that police described as money from sales.[1] Ahraura station house officer Ajay Kumar Mishra said Mahto had been sent to jail.[1]

Mahto was wanted in two cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Madihan police station.[1] A resident of Babhnaulia in Daundpur police station area of Chhapra district, Bihar, he had been living in Gurugram, Haryana.[1] The ₹25,000 reward had been announced by the superintendent of police.[1] Police named the superintendent as Aparna Rajat Kaushik and said the arrest came in a campaign she ordered against drug traffickers.[2]

Seven cases were registered against him in several districts, including Mathura, Ghaziabad and Chandauli, under the Excise Act, the NDPS Act and fraud, police said.[1] Those police stations included Farah in Mathura, Kavinagar and Link Road in Ghaziabad, and others in Chandauli.[2]