The accused were identified as Bhabanishankar Mohapatra (30) and his mother Mamata (52).
Acting on a tip-off, the Bharatpur police carried out a raid at the house in Bharatpur area and made the contraband recovery.
Police sources said that the mother-son duo was leading a syndicate of ganja smugglers. They were procuring the contraband from Kandhamal and supplying it to various parts of Odisha and outside the State. The son, who is an MCA pass out, was helping her mother in the illegal trade.
The duo has been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) act while the market value of the seized drugs is estimated to be around Rs 5 lakh.
Officials privy to the investigation of the case said that the arrested are being questioned to ascertain the root of the ganja smuggling racket.
Further investigation into the case is underway.
Earlier in January, a team of Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police's Crime Branch along with the Commissonerate Police had arrested three persons in Bhubaneswar and recovered more than 40 kilograms of Ganja from their possession.
Since 2022, the STF in the special drive against narcotic drugs has seized more than 44 Kg of brown sugar/heroin and more than 88 quintals of ganja/marijuana and arrested more than 110 drug dealers/peddlers in the State.
Acting on a tip-off, a special squad led by Gajapati SP raided different places in R Udayagiri and intercepted as many as four pick up vans carrying the contraband. The squad detected around 21 quintal of ganja stashed inside the vehicles.
“As many as 26 peddlers including seven women and the drivers of the vehicles have been arrested during the raid. All the vehicles used in the transport of the smuggled goods have also been seized,” informed R Udayagiri SDPO Dilip Kumar Nayak.
A case has been registered under sections 20 (b) (ii) (C)/29 NDPS Act, 1985. The arrested persons will be forwarded to a local court soon, the police said.
Sources said the arrested drivers are the residents of Padmapur from Rayagada village while others are from Panjab and Haryana. The accused from outside Odisha were sending the consignments to their respective states after procuring the contraband from different places in R Udayagiri.
Further investigation into the incident is underway.
Earlier in March this year, Umerkote police had seized over seven quintal of ganja from Chandiabeda village in the district and arrested four persons including an employee of Assam Rifle in this connection.
(Edited by Suryakant Jena)
Sources said the contraband was illegally being smuggled to Nasik in Maharashtra from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
A joint team of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Malkangiri district police conducted a raid and managed to nab two accused including the driver and helper of the truck.
"Acting on a specific intelligence input, a joint team intercepted the salt laden truck and recovered the ganja that was being transported illegally," said Chitrakonda SDPO, Manas Barik.
Barik further informed that a detailed probe will be conducted in connection with the incident.
Acting on a tip-off, the QAT intercepted a Skoda car illegally smuggling ganja in the city. While the alleged mastermind, Bulu Patnaik fled the spot, one Seikh Ahmed has been arrested, informed sources.
Ahmed, during interrogation, admitted that they smuggle ganja from Phulbani in Kandhamal district to several parts of the State.
On March 22, police had seized about 120 kg ganja that was being transported to Kolkata from Bhubaneswar and arrested eight persons.
The seized vehicle with the contraband items were handed over to Pottangi police, BSF sources said.
Acting on a tip-off, BSF troops of 120 Battalion intercepted the truck (OR-10-H 3249) at a check gate on NH-26 near Sunki and seized the illegal items. The driver managed to give a slip to the security personnel due to darkness.
The vehicle was heading towards Saluru of Andhra Pradesh from Pukkili of Odisha), BSF officials said.
Acting on a tip off police pulled over the tanker at Malkangiri bus stand and found nearly 100 sacks of ganja in it. Three persons were held in this connection.
The value of the seized contraband is approximately Rs 1 crore, said police. There were also some small packets of the contraband in the container that will sum up to nearly 200 sacks of ganja which may amount to crores.
While this is not the first time that Malkangiri police was successful in busting such a racket, it was the biggest success achieved till date. Two months earlier police had held few kanwariyas trafficking ganja from Mathili, said police sources.
While one of the deceased has been identified as a resident of Janla area in Gopalpur, the identity of others is yet to be known.
According to sources, the incident took place late on Friday night when the Ford Figo car was returning to Khurda after attending a marriage party in Cuttack. A speeding Scorpio which was coming from Khurda hit the ill-fated car.
While one person died on the spot after the accident, two others died on their way to hospital, sources added.
Also read: Tension erupts in Nilagiri after boy dies in road accident
Locals rescued the injured persons and admitted them to Capital hospital and AIIMS. The conditions of the injured persons are stated to be critical.
Meanwhile, police has seized the two vehicles and recovered huge cache of ganja from the Scorpio.
The officials accompanied by excise sleuths from Bhadrak and Balasore division raided the residence of one Kanhu Jena and seized more than one quintal of the contraband. While, Kanhu is absconding since the raid, his wife Swarnaprava Jena was arrested and forwarded to the court.
“More than one quintal of ganja worth Rs 10 lakh was seized during the raid. We have arrested wife of Kanhu Jena. Efforts are on to nab him too,” informed Inspector-in-Charge of the squad, Sarat Chandra Bhanja. Further investigation into the case in on.
#WATCH: Joint team of excise and police officials seize more than one quintal ganja from a house at Naupur village in #Keonjhar district #Odisha pic.twitter.com/tCagXYFbqN
— OTV (@otvnews) September 4, 2018
According to reports, the Indigo car was en route to Bhubaneswar from Berhampur, when driver of the vehicle sensed about the police checking going on a few metres ahead.
https://twitter.com/otvnews/status/1027037445949456385
"In order to avoid the situation, the driver applied sudden brakes following which the car overturned," informed Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of Sadar police station, Bikram Keshari Jena.
However, the driver managed to escape leaving the car behind.Later, as many as 50 packets of marijuana worth Rs 8 lakh were seized from the car.
“The smuggling of these contraband items to Bhubaneswar and Khurda has become a regular affair. The police patrolling along the NH should be intensified. The administration should also do the needful to address such crime,” said Manas, a local.
Meanwhile, the police is investigating to find out details about the consignment.
Acting on a tip off, the sleuths seized Brown Sugar, Ganja and Opium during multiple raids in and around Bhubaneswar.
“The raids were conducted based on information regarding illegal peddling of narcotics at Unit 3, Unit 4 and Balianta area in Bhubaneswar. Two house owners suspected to be involved in trade of the contraband items have been detained for questioning,” informed a senior police official. .
In a related development, 1.5 quintal of ganja was seized from an auto-rickshaw near Nirakarpur area of the district. One person has been arrested in this connection.
Of late, the excise officials have busted drug rackets in different parts of the city that has now become a safe haven for trading of narcotics. More than half-a-dozen drug seizures have been made during the past two months.
In one such incident that exposed the innovative modus operandi of the smugglers, Ganja (dry cannabis) worth over Rs 1 crore has been seized by the police from an Oxygen cylinder-laden truck in Jeypore of Koraput district.
Senior police officials said that around 1,277 kilograms of Ganja was seized from the truck which was transporting the contraband from Koraput to Lucknow. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the case.
“Based on the information we intercepted the truck on Friday. We have arrested two accused including the driver following the seizure. Both the accused hail from Punjab,” said Jeypore SDPO, Arup Abhisekh Behera.
According to Behera, the Oxygen cylinders had arrived from Vietnam and were being transported to Delhi from Visakhapatnam port.
The Ganja was loaded into the truck from some place in Koraput district. The arrested driver claimed that some persons asked him to deliver the Ganja consignment at a specific point by offering him Rs 1 lakh for the job, police said.
In another major breakthrough, #Jeypore_Sadar_Police seized a huge cache of Ganja weighing around 1277 kgs concealed by oxygen cylinders. Also seized one Truck & arrested two accused persons with reference to PS case no. 104 dt. 12.06.2021 U/ S 20(b)(ii)(C) NDPS Act.@DGPOdisha pic.twitter.com/HopB7e0huL
— Koraput Police (@SPkoraput) June 12, 2021
Earlier, 1577 kilograms of Ganja had been seized from an oil tanker in Koraput in January this year. The consignment was being transported from Lamtaput in the district to Bihar.
In October last year, the Ganjam police had intercepted an ambulance near Budhamba crossing in Kabisuryangar police station and recovered 256 kg cannabis hidden inside PPE kits.
Senior police officials claimed that the bulk of the Ganja consignments from Odisha are being illegally transported to various parts of the country through different routes. Already a massive crackdown has been launched by the Odisha Police and the Special Task Force (STF) of the Crime Branch against illegal narcotics trade since the past two years.
At least 5 kg ganja was seized near Similiguda in Koraput district on Friday. The seized contraband is estimated to be worth Rs 6 lakh. The Similiguda Police arrested two persons in connection with the case. As per reports, the ganja was reportedly being smuggled in an SUV when Similiguda Police intercepted the vehicle. The vehicle was stopped at Doli Amba square on National Highway 26. The contraband item was being smuggled in 25 packets in the vehicle. According to sources, the ganja was on its way from Pottangi to Similiguda when the Police seized the vehicle. The Inspector In-Charge (IIC) of Similiguda Police Station, Dhiren Behera informed that the two arrested accused are Babula from Maliput and Narayan Sagri from Hataguda village of Pottangi region.
According to reports, a team of Mudulipada Police station intercepted the truck and seized the ganja which was concealed in onion consignment. The ganja from Chitrakonda was being smuggled to Raipur in Chhatisgarh.
Two persons have been arrested while further investigation in this connection is on, police said.
It is not for the first time that ganja consignment from Malkangiri has been seized. Earlier,two miscreants were arrested while trying to smuggle 123 kg ganja arranged in guise of a dead body inside a vehicle at Govindpali area in July 2018.
On May 27, 2018, ajoint team of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Malkangiri district police seized 1,500 kgs of Ganja worth nearly Rs two to three crore from a truck near Balimela.
The contraband was illegally being smuggled to Nasik in Maharashtra from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, sources said.
After getting a tip-off on the movement of a vehicle carrying ganja in the locality, Adaba police intensified patrolling to nab the accused identified as Sartam Khan, Nizam Khan, Sahagir Seikh and Mussarat Khan.
As per reports, the contraband item was being transported to Berhampur from Renugaon area under Adaba police limits in the district.
“We are suspecting that the accused are involved in an inter-state ganja racket. They were carrying the contraband item in four packets and were waiting for a vehicle. They will be forwarded to the court today," said Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of R.Udayagiri, Anil Kumar Pradhan.
A police investigation is currently underway.
As per reports, the car was en route to Kantamal from Baliguda when at around 10 am today, it overturned near the Court chhak.
On getting information, Kantamal police rushed to the spot and seized at least five bags of ganja from the vehicle and later admitted the injured driver to Kantamal hospital.
Further investigation into the incident is on.
After getting a tip-off regarding the movement of a vehicle transporting Ganja in Bissamcuttack area in Rayagada district, Bissamcuttack police had intensified patrolling in the area yesterday.
Subsequently, the cops spotted a vehicle which had met an accident near Bissamcuttack jail. Later, huge cache of dry cannabis was recovered from the vehicle bearing the registration number of West Bengal.
In another incident, two persons were also arrested for their alleged involved in the illicit narcotics trade.
“We have seized 190 kilograms of Ganja worth Rs 5 lakh in two separate raids,” said Bisamcuttack Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Chandrasekhar Hota.
Boudh Police seized 270 kgs of Ganja worth nearly Rs 15lakh was seized from Tikarpada area and arrested two accused-Jogindra Kanhar and Sinhu Kanhar in connection with incident.
Officials of the Excise department seized nearly 23 kilograms Ganja following raids under Sadar Police limits of Kandhamal district and arrested four persons.
Senior officials informed that 32 Kg ganja worth Rs 4 lakh has been seized from their possession.
Acting on a tip-off, the special team of excise officials intercepted a four-wheeler and seized two packets of ganja from the vehicle. The arrested students are from a private engineering college in Bhubaneswar and were carrying ganja from Kandhamal to Balasore, sources said.
"During patrolling, we tracked a Maruti Suzuki vehicle in which the three engineering students were transporting ganja worth Rs 4 lakh. The detained students hail from Kandhamal," said Jagdish Chandra Samal, Inspector, Excise Department, central division, Cuttack.
The excise officials have intensified probe to ascertain more information in connection with the case.
Senior officials informed that the cost of the seized narcotics is expected to be over Rs 2 crore.
It is pertinent to mention here that on June 6, a police team was attacked by ganja peddlers near Pujariguda of Baliguda area during a raid. A police official was reportedly injured in the attack.
Later, a team comprising 75 officials was formed and 34 peddlers were nabbed, some 10 kms away from Mathili Police limits. Most of the accused hail from Koraput, Malkangiri and Chhattisgarh, sources said.
Jeypore SDPO Sagarika Nath informed that over 1,050 kgs of ganja worth Rs 2 to 3 crore have been seized.
While four different cases have been registered, five vehicles engaged in illegal transportation of ganja have been seized, Nath added.
In another incident, 15 ganja peddlers were arrested following raids at different places in Jeypore of Koraput district.
Special task force sleuths also arrested Surjit of Hisar in this connection, they said.
The accused was nabbed by the STF team near Sampla road, Jhajjar by-pass area while acting on a tip off, the police said in a statement here.
During checking of the four-wheeler, police found 50 bags of the contraband weighing 1,000 kg, they said.
Paint and thinner were loaded in the vehicle in order to hide the contraband, they added.
During preliminary interrogation, it was revealed that the seized contraband was being supplied from Odisha to Hisar, the police said.
Along with Surjit, three of his aides, Ram Mehar, Anil and Sube Singh, were involved in the smuggling, the officials said.
A case under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was registered and efforts were being made to nab the other accused, police said.
(PTI)
Acting on an intel about the smuggling of the prohibited narcotics, officials of Vishakhapatnam DRI on Wednesday intercepted the goods carriage vehicle bearing registration number- OD 02 BD 4155 and an escort car bearing registration number- OD U 7223 near NAD Junction.
Later, the officials searched the goods carriage vehicle and found 40 bags concealed under a load of banana stalks. The bags were stuffed with 800 packets of brown packets containing ganja. The DRI officials also arrested four persons for their involvement in the transportation of the cannabis.
Sources said, the contraband consignment was loaded in the vehicle near Narsipatnam on February 26 and handed over to the driver near Anakapalle the same day. The contraband item was reportedly procured from Vishaka agency area and was being transported to Bhubaneswar.
The said item was detained under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Meanwhile, the DRI has also seized the vehicle and further investigation into the case is on.
Due to its geographical location, Koraput district is fast turning into a safe haven for illegal Ganja trade as the narcotics substance is being trafficked to various parts of the State as well as Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh West Bengal and other northern States including Delhi. Besides Koraput, there has been an increase in Ganja peddling in Malkangiri district, Bhamoo said.
“A massive crackdown was launched and 25 persons including transporters, middlemen and suppliers were arrested,” informed Koraput SP while talking to reporters after seizing a major haul of nearly 1,700 kilograms of ganja on June 25.
Big success by #Koraput_Police just before "#International_Day_against_Drug_Abuse_and_Illicit_Trafficking".
Registered 10 NDPS cases and seized 1672.865 Kgs of Ganja, 10 vehicles, 13 ATM Cards & 29 mobile phones and arrested 26 persons for their direct involvement.@DGPOdisha pic.twitter.com/H6On0pxQqa— SP Koraput (@SPkoraput) June 25, 2020
Raids were conducted at Sunabeda, Semiliguda, Pottangi, Boipariguda, Machkund and Jeypore Sadar police station areas. Police also seized 10 four-wheelers in which the Ganja was being smuggled on Thursday- on the eve of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, he said.
According to the SP, the district police has seized 25,462 kilograms of ganja and arrested over 200 persons for smuggling the contraband in the last 10 months.
“We have got many vital information and we will bring the accused on remand for further investigation into the case,” said Bhamoo adding that no political link has come up so far during preliminary probe.
(Edited By Pradeep Singh)
Also Read: 82 kg ganja seized in Gajapati; 4 arrested
As per reports, the accused duo, identified as Paul Pani and Anugraha Lima of Ranalai village in R Udaygiri of the district, was heading to Berhampur with the consignment yesterday when they were intercepted by a police patrolling team near Kalameri.
Later, the cops conducted a search of the vehicle and seized the ganja.
“Our patrolling team raided the vehicle and recovered 13 sacks stuffed with over 391.4 kg of marijuana and arrested the two youths. They were transporting the cannabis to Berhampur from where they would have transported it to outside states,” informed Mohana Police Station IIC Sujit Kumar Nayak.
A case has been registered at Mohana Police Station in this connection and the two accused will be forwarded to the court today, the police official added.
Earlier in July, over 10 quintals of ganja was seized from an onion-laden truck between Chandiput and Luhagudi area of Gajapati district and two persons were arrested by the police. Police had said that the market value of the ganja was around Rs 50 lakh.
(Edited By Ramakanta Biswas)
Read More:
Ganja worth Rs 2.45 crore seized during smuggling to Bhubaneswar, four held
Ganja worth Rs 50 lakh seized in Bhubaneswar; one arrested
Acting on a tip off that the smuggled Ganja (cannabis) was being transported in a Bolero jeep, a team from the Excise department set a trap and intercepted the vehicle near Khordha-Cuttack bypass.
Moreover, the team seized 16 different registration number plates from the vehicles, sources informed.
Earlier on September 11, ganja worth Rs 11 lakh seized from a shop at Balipatna area in Padmapur. Similarly, on September 5, cannabis weighing five quintals was seized from Khandagiri area.
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82 kg ganja seized in Gajapati; 4 arrested
As per preliminary reports, the smuggled Ganja consignment was hidden in secret chambers in a truck and sealed in packets. A team of Lamtaput police seized the weed during a regular inspection of vehicles last night.
Two youths, who hails from Bihar, have been arrested in connection with the incident and further investigation is underway, police said. The cost of the total Ganja consignment is said to be over Rs 20 lakh.
Both the accused will be produced before the court today.
Sources said huge quantities of Ganja from Odisha are being smuggled to different parts of the country. Even though crackdowns has been launched by the Odisha Police at regular intervals to curb the narco trade, a complete check on such illegal activities has not been possible so far.
Also Read: Huge Quantity Of Ganja Concealed In PPE Kits Seized From Ambulance In Odisha
The contraband was seized from Khilwa Chak during routine patrolling by Nandapur police. The ganja was being smuggled to Kolkata from Andhra Pradesh.
Huge consignment of Ganja seized from diesel tanker in #Koraput
Over 5 quintals of Ganja (dry cannabis) worth Rs 20 lakh seized by Nandpur police during patrolling at Khilwa chhak; the consignment was being smuggled to #Kolkata from Andhra Pradesh, 2 peddlers arrested #Odisha pic.twitter.com/ESyzOS1Fpd
— OTV (@otvnews) October 9, 2020
Two persons were arrested in this connection. The market price of the seized contraband is about Rs 20 lakh, the police said.
According to sources, the market value of the seized Ganja is around Rs 1.5 crore.
The Machakunda police seized more than eight quintals of Ganja inside a closed house near Hanumal area along Koraput-Malkangiri border, while five quintal of the contraband was seized from a van from Padua area on Andhra Pradesh border, sources added.
(Edited By Ramakant Biswas)
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Ganja Seized From Police Vehicle In Odisha!
Ganja Worth Rs 1 Cr Seized In Odisha’s Koraput
Acting on an Intel, a team of police conducted check-up of vehicles near Bankuala. During the exercise, the team intercepted two cars and found them carrying the contraband. The arrested peddlers identified as Litu alias Satish Kumar Pradhan and Babu alias Sushant Kumar Sahoo are the residents of Kandhamal and Keonjhar respectively.
According to sources, the cache of ganja was being smuggled to Bhubaneswar from Kandhamal in expensive cars to avert the prying eyes of the cops.
"We suspect both the accused as habitual peddlers of cannabis. Further investigation is underway into the matter," said Uma Shankar Das, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar.
(Edited by Suryakant Jena)
Miscreants are reportedly using different techniques to smuggle narcotic substances like Ganja (dry cannabis) in Odisha. Earlier on January 10, drug peddlers had used an SUV with ‘Police Escort’ sticker and a blue beacon to smuggle the same in Malkangiri district.
However, the attempts to smuggle the Ganja proved futile as police managed to nab three peddlers. “As it is a Maoist dominated area, we had stopped the vehicle for verification. All the occupants had worn police uniforms. During search of the vehicle, we recovered one quintal of Ganja,” SS Tripathy, officer-in-charge of Balimela Police station had said.
This apart, police had seized around 134.6 kilograms of the narcotic substance near Kanagaon village under Machkund area of Koraput district on January 15.
Two persons, identified as Chaturam of Bihar and Rajiya Paswan of Delhi, were also arrested in connection with the illegal trade. The market value of the contraband was then estimated to be around Rs 4 lakh.
As per reports, the contraband was being transported from Andhra Pradesh via Machkund, Lamtaput and Jeypore to Bihar in a Bolero.
Semiliguda Police on Sunday seized around 15.77 quintal of Ganja near Daliamba chhak while it was being illegally transported in a tanker trunk. The market value of the seized contraband is estimated to be more than Rs 75 Lakh, said police sources.
The Semiliguda Police were reportedly patrolling at the Daliamba chhak area when they intercepted the tanker. The three peddlers, who were inside the vehicle, fled the spot leaving the vehicle behind.
Meanwhile, police have seized the contraband and launched a manhunt to nab the miscreants.
Similarly, the Excise department officials on Saturday seized around 20 quintals of Ganja from a poultry feed-laden truck near Kanisi area on NH-16 in Berhampur in Ganjam district.
Reportedly, one drug peddler was detained in connection with the illegal trade. The seized Ganja may worth more than Rs 1 crore, said sources.
Miscreants are reportedly using different techniques to smuggle narcotic substances like Ganja (dry cannabis) in the State. However, they have been futile in their plan as Odisha police has been regularly conducting patrolling and have seized the narcotic substances across the State in the past few months.
Besides, police have also successfully nabbed several drug peddlers who were involved in drug peddling.
(Edited By Pradeep Singh)
Acting on a tip-off a special squad led by Umerkote Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Dinesh Kumar Nayak raided the house of one Rabi Narayan Samartha and found 712 kg of ganja inside. Police also seized four bikes from his house.
A case has been registered under sections 20 (b) (ii) (C)/29 NDPS Act, 1985. The arrested person will be forwarded to a local court later today, the police said.
Further investigation into the case is underway.
It is worth mentioning that earlier on January 30, the Excise department officials had seized 20 quintals of ganja from a poultry feed-laden truck near Kanisi area on NH-16 in Berhampur and detained one person in connection with the illegal trade.
This apart, police had also seized around 134.6 kilograms of the narcotic substance near Kanagaon village under Machkund area of Koraput district on January 15. Two persons, identified as Chaturam of Bihar and Rajiya Paswan of Delhi, werearrested in connection with the illegal trade. The market value of the contraband was estimated to be around Rs 4 lakh.
(Edited by Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)
The market price of the seized narcotics is said to be around Rs 70 lakh.
As per reports, two teams led by Koraput SDPO Sanjay Mohapatra were constituted and raids were conducted at different parts of the district.
Lamtaput: Padua and Lamtaput police seize more than 700 kg ganja worth Rs 70 lakh during night patrolling, seize one mini truck, one pick-up van and a Bollero used in the contraband smuggling #Odisha
— OTV (@otvnews) December 12, 2020
Sources said that the police team intercepted a pickup van and a SUV engaged in the transportation of the Ganja to Jeypore from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Both the vehicles were stopped for checking at Changudipada chhak under Lamtaput police limits last night.
However, all the four occupants in both the vehicles managed to give the cops a slip. Around 480 kilograms of Ganja was seized from both the vehicles, police said.
In another incident, Padua police also seized around 236 kilograms of Ganja during patrolling last night. The narcotics substance was seized from a mini truck which was on its way to Andhra Pradesh.
Preliminary investigation reveals that bulk of the Ganja consignment from Odisha was supposed to be trafficked to several parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.