Over 65 kg ganja seized in Odisha; woman among 3 held

Jajpur/Jagatsinghpur: Odisha police busted a major ganja smuggling racket in two coastal districts with seizure of over 65 kg contraband and arrest of three peddlers including a woman yesterday.

The accused persons were identified as Niranjan Sahoo, Nrusingha Charan Swain, both are residents of Kolatha village under Jajpur Sadar police limits, and Lili Pradhan, a native of Kujang area in Jagatsinghpur district.

Police seized huge cache of ganja worth around Rs 4 lakh from two different locations at Kolatha village in Jajpur district on Tuesday.

According to reports, two special squads were formed by the order of Jajpur SP Charan Singh Meena to keep vigil on illegal supply of ganja in the district.

Acting on a tip-off, a team led by Jajpur Sadar Police IIC Dushmant Nayak raided the house of Niranjan Sahoo at Kolatha village and seized 26.250 kg ganja, which was kept under the bed. In simultaneous raid by another police team led by ASI Snehalata Giri at the same village seized 39.100 kg ganja from puja room of a house owned by Srusingha Swain.

The accused persons were forwarded to the court after registering two separate cases, informed Jajpur SDPO Rabindra Kumar Jena.

In another incident, Paradip Excise department arrested Lili Pradhan in connection with illegal ganja supply in Jagatsinghpur district yesterday.

The excise officials nabbed the accused, a resident of Badhanga area under Kujang police limits, while she was travelling with a bag containing ganja around 750 gram.

With seizure of ganja, the excise department intensified patrolling in Kujang and areas adjacent to it to nab illegal ganja traders.