Ganja smugglers hack home guard to death; 36 arrested in Malkangiri
A ganja-smuggling group attacked a police interception party near Chaulimendi in Malkangiri, hacking home guard Banabasi Maharana to death, and police detained 36 people and seized 1,917 kilos of ganja.
🇮🇳 Chaulimendi forest, Balimela, Malkangiri district, Odisha · India
More than a hundred suspected ganja smugglers, disguised as kanwariya pilgrims and carrying the contraband in slings, were intercepted by police near Chaulimendi under Balimela police limits on the night of 5 September.[1]Acting on a tip-off, the police party stopped the group for a search, and the smugglers attacked the officers with sticks and axes.[1][2]
Home guard Banabasi Maharana was grievously injured in the attack and died while under treatment at Mathili Hospital.[1][2]Police detained 36 people at the site as the rest fled in the darkness, and seized1,917 kilos of ganja that the detained men could show no papers for.[2]The case was registered as Mathili police station case 125 of 2020, with murder and NDPS charges.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Kangra district police's CIA team arrested two men from Chamba district with 1.107 kg of charas in the Sokru Dam area of Baijnath. A case was registered under the NDPS Act at Baijnath police station, and police said they were questioning the men about the source of the charas and where it was to be supplied.
Police in Sirari bazaar in Bihar's Sheikhpura district seized 150 grams of ganja from a paan stall and arrested Doman Singh, also known as Prabhakar Singh. The stall stands on Purana Station Road within 500 metres of an educational institution, and the station chief said an FIR was registered under the NDPS Act.
Bandipora police arrested two men travelling on a scooty at Gunchipora near Bakshi Bund on 11 November 2026 and recovered 914 grams of a suspected cannabis powder-like substance from them. Police registered FIR No. 244/2026 at Police Station Sumbal under the NDPS Act and said they were investigating the source of the contraband and its supply links.
Haryana's CIA Hansi police suspended five personnel after ganja accused Tanup Dey died in custody in Odisha's Malkangiri district on 26 October 2026. The death followed an investigation that began with a 63.7 kg ganja seizure from four men in March and led to Dey's arrest as the alleged supplier.
