Police and the Anti-Narcotics Task Force ran two operations against ganja smuggling in Sarangarh-Bilaigarh district on 30 September, seizing a total of 103.11 kg of ganja.[1][2] Seven men were arrested and one suspect was reported absconding.[1]
In the first action, officers acting on a tip stopped an orange-red Eicher truck, registration MH 04 NB 2816, near Tendudarha in the Beladula outpost area of Sarsiva police station limits, suspecting it was carrying ganja from Odisha to Uttar Pradesh.[1][2] Inside an iron almirah in the truck, police found 35 packets of ganja wrapped in brown tape weighing 39.76 kg and valued at about Rs 19.50 lakh.[1][2] Anuj Kumar Gautam, 31, and Tinku Verma, 25, both of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, were arrested.[1] Police also seized the truck, about ten tonnes of iron sheets and two mobile phones, putting the total seizure in this case at about Rs 45.2 lakh.[1]
In the second action, police checking vehicles at Bhatgaon stopped an Alto car, UP 95 W 5149, coming from Sarangarh, whose driver tried to flee; a Fronx car, UP 32 A 4445, following it also tried to ram through a barrier.[1] Police coordinated with Janjgir police to stop the Fronx near the Girwani petrol pump.[1] The two vehicles held four plastic sacks with 63.350 kg of ganja worth about Rs 31.5 lakh, and police said the Alto’s occupants were piloting the consignment.[1] Sunil Beldar, Arvind Kumar Thakur, Surendra Yadav, Sagar Singh and Mehtab Ahmed, all of Uttar Pradesh, were arrested under the NDPS Act and related provisions and remanded to judicial custody.[1] The Fronx, the Alto and seven mobile phones were also seized, worth about Rs 44.55 lakh in total.[1]
Police said both consignments ran from Odisha through Sarangarh-Bilaigarh towards Uttar Pradesh, and that the investigation into the absconding suspect and the wider network continued.[1][2]