Nepali man arrested at Sonauli border with 9.9 kg of charas worth Rs 5 crore
A joint SSB and police party arrested Nepali citizen Basant Khatri, 24, at Sonauli on the India-Nepal border on 22 February 2024 with 9.898 kg of charas that police valued at Rs 5 crore. He was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and Hindi reports place the arrest within a wider day of seizures in the same police station area.
🇮🇳 Sonauli, Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh · India
·
Arrested
1
Cannabis
9.898 kg
Agencies
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Maharajganj district police
A joint party of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), India’s border-guard force, and
police arrested a Nepali citizen on the India-Nepal border and seized contraband
worth Rs 5 crore, a senior officer said on 22 February 2024.[1]The
Maharajganj superintendent of police, Somendra Meena, identified the arrested
man as Basant Khatri, 24, from Dang district in Nepal.[1]
Khatri was arrested in Sonauli with 9.898 kg of charas that police valued at Rs
5 crore in the international market.[1]Times of India’s account of the same
arrest, credited to PTI, also named Khatri and gave the quantity as 9.898 kg of
charas valued at Rs 5 crore.[2]
The accused was booked under the relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and
Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, police said.[1]ABP Live described the
arrest as one of three seizures in the Sonauli police station area that
Thursday, the others being about 71 kg from an SUV at the main Sonauli gate and
38 kg near the ICP, with eight people arrested in all.[3]
ETV Bharat also placed the Khatri arrest among three separate recoveries in the
Sonauli police station area on Thursday, putting the total at 119 kg of charas
worth Rs 90 crore in the international market.[4]ETV Bharat said the three
recoveries together brought the day’s total to 119 kg of charas and eight
arrests in the Sonauli police station area.[4]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
1
Cannabis
9.898 kg
Value (official estimate)
INR 50,000,000
Agencies
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB); Maharajganj district police
Agency type
Border guard, Police
Cannabis
Hashish (9.898 kg)
Activity
Smuggling, Trafficking
Setting
Land border
Charge
relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act
ABP Liveabplive.comHIMaharajganj News: महराजगंज में ड्रग तस्करों पर पुलिस की बड़ी कार्रवाई, 119 किलो चरस बरामद, 5 महिला समेत 8 आठ गिरफ्तार
ETV Bharatetvbharat.comHIभारत आ रही नशे की बड़ी खेप नेपाल बॉर्डर पर पकड़ी गई, 90 करोड़ के चरस के साथ 8 गिरफ्तार
Open questions the AI reported
Deccan Herald and Times of India give 9.898 kg, while ABP Live gives 9.900 kg; the submitted figure is used.
ABP Live and ETV Bharat describe this arrest as one part of a wider series of seizures in the Sonauli police station area that day, with totals of 119 kg and eight arrests; no cannabis quantity from the other two recoveries is counted in this report's figures.
The Rs 5 crore value is the police's estimate of the international market price, not a verified sale price.
No charge sheet, court appearance or sentence was reported for Khatri.
Coordinates are for Sonauli town, not the exact spot near Shyam Kate garden where ABP Live says the arrest was made.
Deccan Herald spells the district Mahrajganj in one place; the correct district name is Maharajganj.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in ABP Live: ABP Live reported that police and SSB personnel arrested Khatri at about 5 am on Thursday near the Shyam Kate garden in the Sonauli police station area with 9.900 kg of charas.
Kangra district police's CIA team arrested two men from Chamba district with 1.107 kg of charas in the Sokru Dam area of Baijnath. A case was registered under the NDPS Act at Baijnath police station, and police said they were questioning the men about the source of the charas and where it was to be supplied.
Police in Sirari bazaar in Bihar's Sheikhpura district seized 150 grams of ganja from a paan stall and arrested Doman Singh, also known as Prabhakar Singh. The stall stands on Purana Station Road within 500 metres of an educational institution, and the station chief said an FIR was registered under the NDPS Act.
Bandipora police arrested two men travelling on a scooty at Gunchipora near Bakshi Bund on 11 November 2026 and recovered 914 grams of a suspected cannabis powder-like substance from them. Police registered FIR No. 244/2026 at Police Station Sumbal under the NDPS Act and said they were investigating the source of the contraband and its supply links.
Police in Station Ghanpur, Jangaon district, Telangana, arrested four men accused of selling dried ganja, including the man who bought some, and seized 40 grams of the drug, a mobile phone and 1,000 rupees in cash. Circle Inspector S. Srinivas said a case was registered against the four and they were remanded to judicial custody.
