Assets worth Rs 3 crore of ganja smuggler seized in Odisha’s Puri

Bhubaneswar: The police have seized movable and immovable assets worth around Rs 3 crore of a ganja smuggler and his son in Brahmagiri area of Puri district.

The police had seized 6 quintals of ganja worth around Rs 60,00,000 from the possession of smuggler Bijay Kumar Pani (50) and his son Satrujit Pani (23) during a raid on their house in Brahmagiri area on May 5, said Puri district Superintendent of Police (SP) Kanwar Vishal Singh.

The father-son duo was arrested under various Sections of NDPS Act, added the SP.

“The accused duo had brought huge quantities of ganja from Kandhamal district. They had planned to supply the same to various parties during the upcoming Car Festival in Puri,” said the SP.

Three teams of Puri police comprising three inspectors, six Sub-Inspectors, eight Assistant Sub-Inspectors and a platoon of armed personnel today raided various locations and seized movable and immovable assets worth around Rs 3 crore of the accused duo, sources said.

Additional SP Mihir Panda and Sadar SDPO KC Mund supervised the whole operation, sources added.

The seized properties include four plots at Gopinathpur Mouza, two plots at Kapileswar Mouza, three plots at Sipasarubali Mouza, two buildings–one four-storey and another two-storey–at Gopinathpur, a two-storey building at Kapileswar under Brahmagiri police limits.

The police have also seized a two-storey building at Andalasingh under Kanas police limits, two cars and a two-wheeler of the accused during the raid.

“Preliminary investigation has confirmed that the accused duo had accumulated the assets from ill-gotten money. Legal process is being initiated for the confiscation of these assets under the NDPS Act,” said the SP.