Rs 97.60 lakh worth ganja seized, two smugglers arrested in Kothagudem

Police have seized ganja worth Rs 97.60 lakh along with two cars and arrested two smugglers at Bhadrachalam in the district on Sunday

Kothagudem: Police have seized ganja worth Rs 97.60 lakh along with two cars and arrested two smugglers at Bhadrachalam in the district on Sunday. Superintendent of Police Dr. Vineeth G speaking to the media here on Monday informed that CCS and Bhadrachalam police conducted vehicle inspections at the local forest check post.

They caught the smugglers who were travelling in two cars and tried to run away on spotting police.

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When inspected the cars police found ganja weighing 488 kg. The accused were identified as D Sivashanker Reddy of Tallagommuru and Nagendra Babu of Masjid Colony of Sarapaka village of Burgampad mandal in the district, the SP said.

They confessed to police that they bought ganja from an unidentified man on AP-Odisha borders to sell the substance to a ganja peddler, Ameer of Zaheerabad. Sivashanker Reddy was involved in three ganja cases and sold the substance to Ameer and Aditya to make money in the past.

Since Sivashanker Reddy was not changing his behaviour it would be proposed to invoke PD Act against him. The PD Act was invoked against 18 persons who were booked in ganja cases in the district, Dr. Vineeth informed. The State government has been taking strict measures to prevent ganja smuggling. As part of that special teams led by Bhadrachalam ASP and with CCS police have been formed in the district. About 1.3 tonnes of ganja seized and 32 smugglers arrested in 11 cases since January, he revealed.

The SP appealed to parents to keep a watch on their grown-ups’ behaviour and if they were found to be addicted to substance abuse police should be informed so that police could counsel them to come out of their habit.