Fugitive held in Odisha in 26.8 kg Janjgir-Champa ganja case
Birra police arrested fugitive Narayan Rana in Odisha for allegedly supplying 26.8 kg of ganja seized near Basantpur on 1 August 2026, when four couriers were detained. Police valued the ganja at about Rs 13.40 lakh and registered the case under the NDPS Act.
🇮🇳 Birra, Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh · India
Arrested
5
Cannabis
26.8 kg
Value (official estimate)
INR 1,340,000
Inquiry into the case implicated Odisha resident Narayan Rana, 27, son of
Lakshman Rana, in supplying ganja, the local term for cannabis.[1]Birra
police arrested Rana at his residence after continuous tracing.[1]The
arrested accused was sent to judicial remand on Wednesday.[1]The case began
on 1 August 2026, when police received a tip that ganja was being moved toward
Champa by car and motorcycle.[1]A Birra team led by station chief Rajiv
Srivastava then cordoned off the area near Basantpur village on the Mahanadi
bank.[1]Officers detained four accused there and recovered 26.8 kg of ganja
from their possession.[1]
Police valued the seized ganja at about Rs 13.40 lakh.[1]Naidunia’s account
of the August interception also reports 26.8 kg of ganja in separate packets
worth more than Rs 13 lakh.[2]Police also seized the car used to transport
the ganja and the motorcycle used to pilot it.[2]The four first arrested were
Vijay Baghel, 22, Uttam Chandra, 41, Bhuribai Baghel, 55, and Savya Sharma, 28.[2]Two of the four arrested in the August interception were women.[2]
Birra police registered the matter as Crime No. 99/2026 under Sections 20(B) and
29 of the NDPS Act.[1]District superintendent Vijay Kumar Pandey directed the
continuing drive against narcotics in the district.[1]Birra station staff
with Karhi assistance-centre staff played a key role in the operation.[1]
Photos and video
Arrested accused with the seized car and ganja. Source: Naidunia
The exact Odisha address where Narayan Rana was arrested and the exact date of that arrest were not published; 4 November 2026 is the publication and remand date used as the incident date.
Police earlier described the seized ganja as worth more than Rs 13 lakh, while the later account values it at Rs 13.40 lakh; the later figure is recorded.
No court outcome beyond judicial remand was reported.
The submitted page's image caption repeats the headline and does not establish that it shows this seizure, so no media entry from that page is included.
The fugitive-arrest step itself rests on a single direct account republishing Hindusthan Samachar; the August seizure is corroborated by Naidunia.
Itarsi police and the RPF arrested 35-year-old Ramkumar Thakur near the Nagpur-Mumbai railway track on 4 November 2026, seizing 8.4 kg of ganja from a black backpack. Police valued the seizure at about 150,000 rupees and registered an offence against him.
Peddapalli rural police detained Hyderabad resident Pakala Lokesh on the outskirts of Raghavapur village, seizing 1 kg 161 g of ganja police valued at about Rs 58,050. Police said he had brought the cannabis to sell to migrant labourers, and a case was registered for investigation.
Prohibition enforcement police arrested two young men at Cholavaram tollgate near Minjur after finding 10 kg of ganja in their bags. Police said the pair had smuggled the cannabis from the Rayavada area of Andhra Pradesh for sale in Cuddalore district.
Palakurthi police detained two youths caught consuming ganja after confirmation tests came back positive. A magistrate directed both to the Jangaon de-addiction centre for 15 days.
