New technique of ganja smuggling busted, 4 quintals of contraband seized

Bolangir police on Monday managed to seize around four quintals of ganja (dry cannabis) which was being smuggled to Chhattisgarh from Rayagada district in Odisha. The detection assumes significance as the miscreants adopted a new technique to smuggle the contraband to avoid suspicion.

However, Police managed to foil such an attempt and nabbed the driver of the pick-up van, who has been identified as Om Prakash. Sources said that the ganja was being smuggled in a clandestine manner in the pick-up van.

The contraband was stuffed inside big trunks which were generally used to store house hold articles. The contraband was being smuggled from the state along with several house hold articles like cycle and others.

The driver, who also happens to be the owner of the pick-up van, has confessed to have taken consignment from Odisha to Chhattisgarh in the past as well.

“I have no idea that it is ganja. I was told that it was some ayurvedic medicines,” said accused Om Prakash adding that some other person had asked him to do the job.

Senior police officials said that, “Based on the intelligence input, we had intercepted the pick-up van and recovered the ganja which was being smuggled in a clandestine manner.”

(Reported by Manoranjan Joshi)