121 Kg Ganja Recovered in Satbarwa, Consignment Traced to Odisha
Key Points:
- Palamu Police recover 121 kg cannabis worth Rs 60 lakh in Satbarwa area
- Two accused, Shambhu Kumar and Saroj Kumar, arrested with the consignment
- Drugs were being transported from Odisha for supply in Hariharganj, police say
PALAMU – The Palamu Police have carried out a major crackdown under the ongoing anti-narcotics drive, Operation Prahar. Acting on secret information, police searched a vehicle in the Satbarwa police station area of the district. Around 121 kilograms of cannabis was recovered from the vehicle during the search. Two accused were arrested from the spot. The seized cannabis is estimated to be worth approximately Rs 60 lakh.
SP Kapil Chaudhary said the arrested accused have been identified as Shambhu Kumar and Saroj Kumar. Shambhu Kumar operates a CSP outlet, while Saroj Kumar works as a vehicle driver. During interrogation, the accused told police that the cannabis was being brought from Odisha. It was meant to be supplied to a person in Hariharganj.
The Palamu SP further said the district has been running a continuous campaign against the illegal drug trade. This is being carried out on directions from the state government and police headquarters. He said the police achieved this major success as part of the same campaign. According to him, Palamu Police had also recovered around 350 kg of cannabis in July. Action has continued through August as well.
Meanwhile, police are now interrogating the arrested accused further. Officers are trying to gather information about the wider cannabis smuggling network. They are also seeking details of other people linked to the consignment.
Cannabis smuggling along routes connecting Odisha to Palamu and neighbouring districts has surfaced in enforcement drives before. In a separate case, three smugglers were arrested with 11 kg of cannabis in Galudih while transporting the contraband from Odisha toward Jamshedpur. Elsewhere in the region, Ghatshila police arrested three persons with ganja and brown sugar, and a separate crackdown in Ghatshila recovered cannabis and brown sugar from another set of accused. Similar seizures have also been reported in Chaibasa in the past. Two women were also recently held in Ranchi with brown sugar worth Rs 5 lakh, pointing to a wider network of narcotics trafficking across the state.
