Two brothers held for drugs peddling; Ganja, opium and gold ornaments seized

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha Crime Branch arrested two brothers, Banamali Pradhan and Arun Pradhan, on the charges of drugs peddling. Both the accused were arrested on April 28-29 following a raid at Buguda Raghunath sahi in Ganjam district.

Senior officials said 107 kg Ganja (dry cannabis), 517 gram Opium, 607 gram gold and 196 gram silver have been recovered from their possession.

Apart from this, documents pertaining to 29 land property have also been recovered during the raid.

“The two accused have been arrested under section 18 (c)/ 20(b) (ii) (C) and 25, 29 of NDPS Act 1985 and have been produced before the country. Further investigation in this connection is underway,” STF said in a release.

The STF is carrying out a special drive against narcotic drugs trade in Odisha. Since 2020, the STF has seized more than 50 kg of Brown Sugar/Heroin, 202 gram Cocaine and more than 93 quintals of Ganja/Marijuna, Opium (750 gram) in separate cases. The investigating agency has arrested more than 141 drug dealers/peddlers so far.