A team of Mumbai Crime Branch’s Anti-Narcotics Cell led by API Londhe with five staff went to Odisha on a tip-off and arrested alleged inter-state kingpin Laxmikant Pradhan and his associate Bidhadhar Pradhan in Golanthara on 9 December 2023.[1][2] Both were brought to Mumbai on transit remand, taking the total arrests in the case to five.[1][2]

The pair were wanted in a Ghatkopar ANC case from 12 December 2021, when officers laid a trap in the Vikroli East area and seized 1,820 kg of ganja worth Rs 3.85 crore from interstate peddlers moving it by truck.[1][2] Police said the contraband was sourced from Odisha and registered the offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.[1][2]

Police said Pradhan, also called Laxmi Bhai, had evaded capture by shifting between Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Nepal, and faces other criminal cases including murder and Arms Act charges in Odisha.[1][2] Officers said seven accused were still absconding and an in-depth investigation was under way to trace the rest of the syndicate.[1][2]