3 held in Gajapati for transporting ganja

Berhampur: Three persons, including a former samiti member, were arrested on Tuesday in Gajapati district for allegedly transporting ganja illegally. Around 200 kg of ganja and a car, together worth over Rs 45 lakh, and two mobile phone sets were seized from them, police said.The accused persons are Prasanna Kumar Tandi alias Luna Tandi (32) of Raipanka, Milan Majhi (32) of Gerang and Srikant Mallick (34) of Budhagaon under Adava police station limits, police said. While Mallick was a former samiti member, Tandi was a habitual ganja smuggler. “At least three NDPS Act cases are pending against him in Gajapati, Rayagada and Kalahandi districts,” said Rakesh Sahoo, sub-divisional police officer, G Udayagiri. He said an NBW was pending against him for several years.Acting on a tip-off, a police team from Adava police station conducted intensive checking and patrolling on NH-326 near Raipanka. During the operation, a car was intercepted after a brief chase. Following the mandatory legal formalities under the NDPS Act, they found eight plastic bags containing the contraband, Sahoo said.During the preliminary investigation, the accused reportedly disclosed that they procured the contraband from local sources and were transporting it to Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to sell it illegally. Several other persons were involved in the inter-state drug syndicate. Search is on to nab other persons of the syndicate, he said.