DTF, excise teams seize 372.2 kg ganja, arrest four in Khammam

District Task Force and excise teams seized 372.2 kg of ganja in three linked operations across the erstwhile Khammam district on Wednesday and arrested four persons from Odisha.

Khammam: The district task force (DTF) personnel and excise teams seized ganja weighing about 372.2 kg and arrested four smugglers in three different cases in erstwhile Khammam district on Wednesday.

In the first case, at Bhadrachalam in Kothagudem the DTF team seized 9 kg of ganja from a bike rider during vehicle checks. Suspecting a car following the motorcycle, the excise teams inspected it and found 100 kg of ganja inside.

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Upon questioning the two accused travelling in the car and on the motorcycle, they revealed that ganja was also being transported in a lorry through Khammam. The excise teams intercepted the lorry at Karunagiri in Khammam and seized 263.2 kg of ganja.

The bike rider, Diwakar Mandal, the car driver, Suman Pal, the lorry driver Rajasekhar Margi and its cleaner Brijan Nasa, all from Odisha were arrested. The value of the seized ganja was said to be over Rs 1.82 crore.

The operation involved Kothagudem DTH CI Ramadevi, CIs Kistaiah and Narendar Reddy and SIs Salimullah Khan and Sridhar Rao. Excise Enforcement Director Avinash Mohanty, Joint Commissioner Anjan Rao and Khammam Deputy Commissioner V Somi Reddy commended the teams for the seizure of the ganja.