Seven held as police find 322 kg of ganja in a truck in Purulia
Police stopped a truck on NH-18 near the Belkuri toll plaza in Purulia district late on 27 July 2026 and found 322 kg of ganja in a hidden compartment. Seven men from West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha were arrested, and police said the load was bound from Odisha for Dhanbad in Jharkhand.
🇮🇳 Belkuri toll plaza, NH-18, Purulia Mufassal, Purulia district, West Bengal · India
- Arrested
- 7
- Cannabis
- 322 kg
Police stopped a truck on National Highway 18 near the Belkuri toll plaza, under
the Purulia Mufassal police station in West Bengal’s Purulia district, late on
the night of 27 July 2026.[1] Officers found 322 kg of cannabis in the
vehicle.[2] Two escort vehicles travelling ahead of and behind the truck were
stopped as well.[2]
Seven men were arrested.[3] They were named as Jibon Dey, Raju Pal and Utpal
Kumar Sinha from West Bengal, Dipak Kumar Singh, Ajeet Kumar Singh and Ranjit
Kumar Prasad from Bihar, and Kalia Lanka from Odisha.[3] A mechanic opened the
hidden compartment in front of an executive magistrate and independent
witnesses.[4]
Police seized the three vehicles used in the run and 10 mobile phones.[4]
Police said the consignment had come from Ganjam district in Odisha and was
being taken through the Purulia-Ranchi corridor to Dhanbad in Jharkhand.[3]
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said the Kolkata Police Special Task Force, with
the Purulia district police, had made the interception.[1] He commended the
“swift, coordinated and resolute action” of the agencies.[1] Police said the
seven were being questioned to trace the rest of the network.[3]
Sources
- Kolkata Police STF busts interstate drug trafficking racket in Purulia, detains 7: CM. The Hindu, 28 July 2026.
- Suvendu praises Purulia drug haul, calls for sustained action against narcotics. The Times of India, 28 July 2026.
- Purulia Police bust interstate drug racket, seven held. Millennium Post, 28 July 2026.
- पुरुलिया में ओडिशा-झारखंड अंतरराज्यीय गांजा तस्करी गिरोह का पर्दाफाश, 322 किलो गांजे के साथ 7 गिरफ्तार. Dainik Jagran, 28 July 2026. In Hindi.
Open questions the AI reported
- Millennium Post described the interception as happening late on Sunday night and around midnight, while The Hindu, The Times of India and Dainik Jagran place it on the night of Monday 27 July 2026; this report uses 27 July.
- Accounts differ on where the load was hidden: a cavity behind the driver's seat in the Chief Minister's description, and compartments beneath the truck's cargo bed in the Times of India account.
- No value for the 322 kg was published; The Hindu notes that the Chief Minister gave neither the quantity nor the value in his statement.
- Which unit led the stop is attributed differently: the Chief Minister credited the Kolkata Police Special Task Force with the Purulia district police, while Millennium Post and Dainik Jagran describe a Purulia Special Operations Group and Mufassal police station team.
- The Chief Minister described the escort vehicles as moving from Odisha towards Asansol, while Millennium Post and Dainik Jagran say the load was bound for Dhanbad.
- The sources opened here give no charges filed and no court outcome for the seven arrested.
- Left out, as its quotation was not found in The Hindu: The load was hidden in a specially concealed cavity behind the driver's seat, according to the Chief Minister's account of the operation.
- Left out, as its quotation was not found in The Times of India: Purulia's superintendent of police, Kumar Sunny Raj, said three of the seven were from Bihar, one from Odisha and three from West Bengal.