The blockade

Acting on intelligence that ganja was moving in a white pickup escorted by a Maruti Swift Dzire, police set up a blockade on National Highway 53 in front of the Pateva police station in Mahasamund district.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Officers stopped the Dzire first and found nothing in it, then searched the pickup and recovered 88 kilograms of ganja packed in three plastic sacks.[1][2][8][3][9][4][5][6][7] The IANS account gives the pickup’s registration as MH-21 BH-9873 and the escort car’s as MH-46 X-5682.[2][7]

The arrests

Police arrested six men, all residents of Maharashtra: three allegedly carrying the ganja and three travelling in the escort vehicle.[1][2][8][3][9][4][5][7] The consignment had allegedly come from Katamal in Bargarh district of Odisha and was bound for distribution in Maharashtra.[1][2][3][9][4][5][6][7] Alongside the drug, worth about Rs 44 lakh, police seized the pickup, the Dzire, Rs 28,600 in cash and seven mobile phones, putting the total property value at Rs 53.73 lakh.[1][2] A case was registered at Pateva police station as Crime No. 210/2026 under Sections 20(b) and 29(1) of the NDPS Act, and all six accused were sent to judicial custody while investigation into the network’s source, destination and finances continues.[1][2][8][3][5][6]

The six accused were identified as Siddharth Dande, Sachin Madan Sonawani, Badrinath Prahlad Khurmute, Shankar Tukaram Dige, Vishal Santosh Khade and Deepak Kharse.[8][9]