Police in Malkangiri district, Odisha, seized around 1,500 kg of ganja, the local word for cannabis, from a forest near Sadaram village on the Andhra Pradesh border, officials said on Thursday 8 October.[1] The cannabis had been concealed in a pit in the hilly forest, and officers searched the area after intelligence inputs.[1] No one was arrested in connection with the seizure.[1] Police said further investigation was under way to identify those involved in storing and trafficking the cannabis.[1]

The team was led by Jodamba police station’s inspector-in-charge, Manoranjan Sahu, with assistant sub-inspectors Ananta Kumar Nayak and Simanchal Patra.[1] Police said the seized ganja was worth about Rs 1.5 crore, or 15 million rupees.[2] Officers also seized four iron chests used for packing ganja.[1]

Officers found the cannabis while patrolling and checking vehicles in the Chitrakonda block of Malkangiri district.[3] Police registered Case No. 36/2026 at Jodamba police station under Section 20(b)(ii)(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.[1] Chitrakonda sub-divisional police officer Pradosh Pradhan said the crackdown on ganja smuggling was continuing under Malkangiri superintendent of police Vinod Patil, and that teams were searching for others in the trafficking network.[1]