Daijiworld Media Network - Mahasamund
Mahasamund (Chhattisgarh), Nov 1: In a major crackdown on interstate drug trafficking, Mahasamund Police have arrested six persons from Maharashtra and seized 88 kg of cannabis (ganja), valued at approximately Rs 44 lakh.
The operation was jointly carried out by the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) and Patewa Police under 'Operation Nishchay'.
According to police, the total value of the seized property, including the contraband, vehicles, cash and mobile phones, stands at Rs 53.73 lakh.
The operation was launched following specific intelligence inputs that ganja was being transported in a pickup vehicle escorted by a Maruti Swift Dzire car. Acting on the information, police set up a blockade on National Highway 53 in front of Patewa Police Station.
The Swift Dzire, bearing registration number MH-46 X-5682, was intercepted first. Police questioned its three occupants but found no contraband in the car.
Shortly afterwards, the suspected white pickup vehicle bearing registration number MH-21 BH-9873 was stopped and searched. Police recovered 88 kg of ganja packed in three plastic sacks.
The consignment had allegedly been brought from Katamal in Odisha's Bargarh district and was being transported to Maharashtra for distribution, police said.
The six accused have been identified as Siddharth Dandey, Sachin Madan Sonawani, Badrinath Prahlad Khurmute, Shankar Tukaram Dige, Vishal Santosh Khade and Deepak Kharse. All are residents of Maharashtra. While three were allegedly transporting the cannabis in the pickup, the remaining three were travelling in the escort vehicle.
Apart from the ganja, police seized the pickup vehicle valued at Rs 5 lakh, the Swift Dzire worth Rs 4 lakh, Rs 28,600 in cash and seven mobile phones valued at Rs 45,000.
A case has been registered at Patewa Police Station under Sections 20(b) and 29(1) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act (Crime No. 210/2026). The accused have been remanded to judicial custody.
Police said further investigation is underway to establish the source and destination of the consignment and trace the financial links of the interstate trafficking network.