Inter-state gang held with hash oil worth Rs 2.5 crore in Warangal

Warangal police arrested four members of an inter-State gang involved in smuggling hash oil and seized contraband worth Rs 2.50 crore. The accused were travelling to Mumbai to sell the drugs when they were intercepted based on a tip-off.

Hanamkonda: An inter-State gang involved in smuggling hash oil (oil extracted from ganja plants) on a large scale was arrested for the first time in the history of the Warangal Police Commissionerate.

Four members of the gang were arrested in a joint operation conducted by the Warangal Drug Control Unit, CAT Party and Intezargunj police. Police seized hash oil worth around Rs 2.50 crore along with two mobile phones.

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Speaking to the media, Commissioner of Police Sunpreet Singh informed that the accused Hantal Sannu, Hantal Sanyasi and Krishna Hantal of Chitrakonda tahasil of Malkangiri district in Odisha, and Kandela Chinnababu of Gudem mandal of Alluri district in Andhra Pradesh were arrested, while another accused, Kilo Pandu, was absconding.

The prime accused, Hantal Sannu, used to cultivate ganja plants in his native village and engaged the others to sell the produce. He established contact with Kilo Pandu, an expert in extracting hash oil from marijuana plants. With a specialised device brought by Pandu, the gang extracted 40 kilograms of hash oil from ganja plants, the CP said.

Pandu took 20 kilograms for himself, while the others took five kilograms each of the remaining 20 kilograms. They departed from Tuni railway station in Andhra Pradesh at midnight on April 19 aboard Konark Express, intending to sell the contraband in Mumbai.

Suspecting that police inspections were being conducted at Warangal railway station, the gang disembarked there on Monday. Following a tip-off about their suspicious movements near Warangal railway goods shed on Tuesday, the police took the gang into custody, conducted a search, arrested them and seized hash oil.

The CP commended Central Zone DCP Dara Kavitha, Warangal ASP Shubham, ACPs Jitender Reddy and Jani Narsimhulu, Drug Control Team Inspector Y Satish, Intezargunj Inspector Shukoor, SIs Sandeep and Teja, RSIs A Poorna Chander Reddy, K Manoj Reddy and L Linga Rao, CAT Party AR ASIs V Subbirami Reddy, Head Constables Bala Raju, K Sriramulu, MD Rabbani and R Rajkumar for nabbing the accused.