Koraput district police launched an amphibious raid on 26 February 2026 against a clandestine hashish oil manufacturing unit hidden on a remote island inside the Jalaput reservoir under Padwa police station limits, on the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border.[1][2] Officers approached by boat and trekked through dense forest to strike the extraction unit led by SP Rohit Verma.[1][2]
The raid seized 1,800.5 litres of hashish oil valued at over Rs 225 crore and 1,000 kg of ganja worth around Rs 5 crore, along with a full improvised lab: a 28 KV generator, modified pressure cookers with custom piping, metal connectors, storage drums and nearly 80 litres of cleaning solvents.[1][2] One accused was caught at the site while the alleged mastermind and associates fled into the forest; a 30-hour cordon with boat patrols, six grid-search teams and drones followed.[1][2]
Police arrested Allen Jayaraj, 33, of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, identified as the kingpin and main cook, plus five others: Kiran D, 33, an unnamed 28-year-old and Bittu B, 34, from Kerala, and local facilitators Lalchan Khilla, 25, of Malkangiri and Sadhu Pangi, 45, of Koraput.[1][2] A Special Investigation Team was formed to probe the network.[1]
Update
Koraput district police in Odisha arrested six people, including the alleged kingpin of an inter-state hashish oil syndicate, within 30 hours of storming a clandestine drug laboratory hidden on a remote island inside the Jolaput reservoir.[3] Those held were Allen Jayaraj, 33, of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, whom police identified as the syndicate’s kingpin and main cook; Kiran D, 33, Anand Raj, 28, and Bittu B, 34, also from Kerala; and local facilitators Lalchan Khilla, 25, of Malkangiri and Sadhu Pangi, 45, of Koraput.[3]
The unit was concealed deep inside dense forest under Padwa police station limits along the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border, terrain police said traffickers long exploited for its isolation and difficult access.[3] Acting on intelligence, police launched an amphibious operation on 26 February, approaching the island by boat before trekking through thick undergrowth to strike the extraction unit.[3] An initial police account of the raid had the suspects escaping and the hunt still on.[2] The raid yielded 1,800.5 litres of hashish oil, which police valued at over Rs 225 crore, and 1,000 kg of ganja, dried cannabis, worth around Rs 5 crore.[3] Investigators recovered an improvised laboratory set-up including a 28 KV generator, modified pressure cookers fitted with custom piping, metal connectors, storage drums and nearly 80 litres of cleaning solvents.[3]
Police sealed the island, blocked ferry points and escape routes, patrolled the reservoir by boat, and put six ground teams and drones into grid searches under the dense canopy.[3] Police said Jayaraj, a repeat offender with prior cases under India’s NDPS narcotics law, had picked the secluded island, and the gang converted bulk-purchased ganja into high-purity hashish oil through a multi-stage process of specialised chemicals and controlled heating.[3] SP Koraput Rohit Verma said the unit had been set up barely 15 days earlier, that funding sources and forward linkages were under investigation, and that police would seek remand for sustained interrogation.[3] A special investigation team was formed under the SP’s supervision, forensic examination of the seized material began, and teams were dispatched to other states to map the broader smuggling network.[3] The DIG said no further details could be released while the investigation continued and appealed to the public for help under the Nasha Mukt Odisha (drug-free Odisha) anti-drug campaign.[3]