Ganja weighing 566 kg seized, 7 held in multiple raids

NT Correspondent

 Bengaluru

In yet another major crackdown on the drive against drugs, Bengaluru South Division police officials on Tuesday seized ganja weighing 566 kg along with 6 kg of hashish oil after arresting seven people after carrying out two different raids in the city.

 A raid carried out in Kempegowda Nagar led to the arrest of five accused. The police said that they were alerted about a gang, including a woman, who was spotted near Nanjamba Agrahara in Chamarajpet along with a huge quantity of ganja stored in an auto-rickshaw.

 Immediately the senior officials from the South division deployed a team and they arrested five accused along with the ganja. The accused were later identified by the police as Nayaz Pasha resident of Goripalya; Noor Ahmed from Kottigepalya; A woman from Doddabasti; Imran from Valmiki Nagar and Bangarappa, a resident of KP Agrahara.

Preliminary investigation found that the ganja was procured from Odisha in huge quantities by the accused and they planned to sell it in the city. Their sources in Odisha would send the contraband by loading them under the passenger seats of the trains which would stop at KR Puram here, police said explaining the modus operandi of the arrested gang. The accused would unload the packages from the train and sell it to their prospective clients in the city.

The police seized ganja packed in two boxes, weighing 10 kg and 20 kg each after arresting the accused. Further the police also raided their residences and seized a total of 506 kg of ganja, an auto-rickshaw and a two-wheeler from their possession.

Based on the information collected from the accused, a similar drive was carried out near Jayanagar during which the police arrested two accused after seizing 50 kg ganja and 6 kg hashish oil from them. The accused were identified as Sagar Saho and Sheshagiri, both from Andhra Pradesh. It was learnt that the duo had been nabbed by the city police on August 30 for consuming ganja near Jayanagar.

However they had managed to escape. The police located the accused with the help of the local residents and arrested them. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru South, P Krishnakanth said that a total of 566 kg of ganja and 6 kg of hashish oil totally worth Rs 5 crore has been seized during the investigation.