Jhargram district police scored a major success after an all-night watch on the Kharagpur–Chichira National Highway 49.[1] Led by SDPO Shamim Biswas, the Special Operations Group with Jhargram police station began the watch late on Saturday night; in the early hours of Sunday a suspicious white pickup van running from Jharkhand toward Kolkata was stopped at Guptamani.[1]
The van held 156.2 kilograms of ganja packed in sacks.[1] Police arrested driver Himanshu Singh of Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh and helper Ajmal Hossain of Kashipur in Kolkata, and registered an NDPS Act case.[1] Produced before the Jhargram court on Sunday, both were remanded to seven days’ police custody for the investigation.[1]
Police say the Kharagpur–Chichira highway has long served traffickers, with earlier SOG-assisted raids in Jhargram and Jambani seizing large quantities; investigators believe Odisha-grown ganja is moved across the country in long-haul vehicles by luring drivers and helpers with money.[1]