As part of Operation Prahaar’s intensified crackdown on drug peddling, police in the Padwa area of Odisha’s Koraput district seized 810 kilograms of ganja from a truck on Wednesday afternoon and arrested the driver.
The accused driver, Gobarvhan Samadhan Ingle (28), hails from Washim district in Maharashtra.
Acting on a tip-off about ganja smuggling from Muchimput in Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad, a patrol team led by Sub Inspector HSRRB Benia set up a checkpoint near Badadebata Chowk.
The truck approached at high speed, ignoring police signals to stop. The driver attempted to flee but abandoned the vehicle near Sirasamal village and tried to escape into the forest. Police quickly apprehended him.
During interrogation, Ingle confessed that he and his employer, Surya from Hyderabad, procured the ganja from Muchimput’s dense forests on September 8. Local laborers had packed the contraband in secret cavities inside the truck.
A thorough vehicle search led to the recovery of 405 packets, each weighing 2 kg, totaling 810 kg of ganja. The seizure was conducted in the presence of witnesses and an Executive Magistrate.
