Ganja rackets busted in Odisha; 5 held

Bhubaneswar/Rourkela: In separate incidents, special squads of Odisha police today busted two ganja rackets operating in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela and arrested five persons in this connection.

In Bhubaneswar, Saheed Nagar police today busted an inter-state cannabis racket and arrested three persons including an Odia identified as Basudeb Parida. Police also seized two cars, 40 kg ganja, Rs 70,000 cash and a revolver from their possession.

According to Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi, Parida along with his two other non-Odia associates used to traffic ganja from southern Odisha districts like Phulbani and sell it in local markets in Bhubaneswar and also smuggle it outside the state particularly to Karnataka. The peddlers used to transport the narcotics through cars.

In a similar incident, Rourkela police also arrested two persons for transporting ganja worth around Rs 1.5 lakh. The two accused have been identified as Birbahadur Singh and Nazeer Ahmed of Koraput.

As per police sources, the smugglers used to source the narcotic item from Koraput and sell it in Rourkela.