As many as six drug peddlers, including high-profile smuggler Firoz Khan, have been arrested from different parts of Odisha, the police said on Tuesday.
The Special Task Force (STF) and Baseli Sahi Police have arrested Firoz, a native of Durga Bazaar area of Cuttack, and three others during a joint raid at Matitota ground in Puri on Sunday. The accused had gone to Puri for a drug deal when they were arrested.
Three others who have been arrested were identified as, Pappu Pandey of Debigali of Pipili, Iftekhar Tulla of Jaleswar and Ranjan Bhujbal of Tirmal in Jatni. About 356 gram brown sugar, three motorcycles, five cell phones and Rs 17,000 cash were found on them.
Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh said further investigation is underway into the case.
“I thank all those who have come forward to report drug trafficking through the WhatsApp number we had launched a few days back. So far we received seven actionable inputs over the WhatsApp number and the sources have been rewarded suitably,” Singh said.
In a similar development, the Commissionerate Police in Cuttack seized brown sugar worth Rs 40 lakh and arrested two persons. The contraband was seized during a raid by the Malgodown police in Jobra area. The two arrested are Laxman Marndi and Sheikh Abid of Jaleswar in Balasore district. A motorcycle has been seized from them, police said.