Two arrested as 270 kg of ganja seized from a car on NH-16 in Kakinada district
Prathipadu police stopped a car on National Highway 16 near Dharmavaram in Kakinada district on 30 October 2026 and seized about 270.175 kg of ganja packed in eight sacks. Adiraju Naidu and Pothuraju Manikanta, both 24, were arrested and were to appear before a Prathipadu magistrate; a third suspect police call the organiser escaped.
🇮🇳 Dharmavaram, Prathipadu mandal, Kakinada district, Andhra Pradesh · India
Prathipadu police, with the district Eagle team, arrested two men and seized
about 270.175 kg of ganja, the local term for cannabis, from a car on National
Highway 16 near Dharmavaram in Kakinada district.[1][2]The car was a Maruti
WagonR registered AP-31-BN-9513.[1]The ganja was packed in eight sacks.[1][3]Police seized the vehicle and two Aadhaar cards.[4][3]
The arrested men were Adiraju Naidu and Pothuraju Manikanta alias Swami, both 24
and from Benna Bhupalapatnam village in Rolugunta mandal of Anakapalli district.[4]
Sub-Inspector S. Lakshmikantham told reporters the ganja was being taken from
the agency areas of Odisha, the state’s tribal districts, to Maharashtra.[4]A
third accused, Jerripothula Vamsikrishna, described by police as the organiser
of the smuggling, escaped after noticing the police.[4]
Eenadu, reporting after the seizure, describes the car as leaving the Odisha agency area for Maharashtra at the end of last month, which was October 2026.[2]
Photos and video
Police officers with white sacks of seized ganja on the roadside at Dharmavaram, two detained men sitting in front and the vehicle behind. Photo: HMTVPhoto details
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Source: HMTVPolice and other men stand behind sacks of seized ganja during the Dharmavaram operation.Photo details
HMTV and Andhra Jyothy give the weight as 270.175 kg, while UNI reports 270.750 kg; this report uses the figure carried by the two Telugu accounts.
HMTV spells the arrested men's village as Besi Bhupalapatnam, while UNI and Andhra Jyothy give Benna Bhupalapatnam; the report uses the latter.
The two men were to be produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate's court at Prathipadu; no charges, plea or court result has been reported.
UNI names the third accused as Jerripothula Vamsikrishna and calls him the alleged organiser; the Telugu reports say only that a main accused is at large, and no arrest of him has been reported.
The Rs 1.35 crore value is the police estimate given to reporters, not a valuation confirmed by another source.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in United News of India: Police stopped it on Friday 30 October 2026.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in HMTV: The two were to be produced before a magistrate at Prathipadu, police said.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Andhra Jyothy: The car was coming from Tuni towards Rajamahendravaram when it was checked, Andhra Jyothy reported.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Andhra Jyothy: Police put the value of the haul at Rs 1.35 crore.
Prajasakti reports 270.750 kg, while HMTV reports 270.175 kg; the weight remains unresolved.
Eenadu gives the weight as 270 kg and the destination as Maharashtra, matching the existing account, but does not resolve the 270.175 kg and 270.750 kg difference.
Mahabubabad district police destroyed 99.688 kg of dry ganja, valued at Rs 49.84 lakh, seized in 19 NDPS cases. The court-approved disposal took place at a biomedical waste facility at Gopalpet in Khammam district under the district Drug Disposal Committee.
Gurgaon Traffic Police intercepted two people carrying cannabis at Nainwal Cut in Manesar and recovered 12kg, handing them to the local police station for investigation. The seizure was reported as part of traffic police crime-prevention work over the past 30 days.
Police in Bihar's Kosi division seized 8,254.794 kilograms of ganja during an ongoing anti-narcotics campaign across Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura districts launched in February 2026. Authorities sent 2,717 suspected traffickers to jail across all contraband categories, with recent weekly operations recovering another 52.1 kg of ganja and arresting 13 people on dry-narcotics offences.
A joint GRP, RPF and NCB team seized 31.15 kg of ganja in seven packets from a minor carrying two bags on train No. 19484 at Ara Junction. The child was sent to a remand home for production before the Juvenile Justice Board.