HYDERABAD: An inter-state drug peddling gang was busted and Rachakonda police have seized 320 kilos of ganja worth Rs 40 lakh from their possession near Kothapet fruit market.
Acting on specific information, Special Operations Team (SOT) sleuths of Bhongir and Malkajgiri Zones on Wednesday night nabbed M Raj Kumar of Bidar in Karnataka near Kothapet fruit market while transporting ganja from Gokavaram area of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka.
Raj Kumar’s associate and main accused, Ranga Lal, 25, of Bidar, is absconding. Police seized 320 kilos of ganja concealed in the pickup truck driven by Raj Kumar.
On interrogation, Raj Kumar confessed that he had migrated from Bidar four years ago and started living at Ambedkar Nagar Colony in Saroornagar in Hyderabad . He had been driving a goods carrier vehicle to transport fruits from Kothapet fruit market to various places. Raj Kumar claimed he knew Ranga Lal, a ganja peddler, as they were from the same area in Bidar.
On July 18, Raj Kumar received an order to transport pomegranate load from Kothapet fruit market to Rajahmundry and on July 19 he delivered the load. Before Raj left the city, Ranga Lal met him near Kothapet fruit market and asked him to bring a load of ganja from Gokavaram in East Godavari district during the return journey.
After unloading the consignment of fruits in Rajahmundry, Raj met Ranga Lal at Gokavaram on July 20. They went to a nearby Agency area and loaded 152 packets of ganja in the goods carrier covering the contraband with empty trays.
Once the ganja was loaded in the goods carrier, Lal left for Bidar in an RTC bus and instructed Raj to deliver the consignment to him in their hometown. The accused procured a kilo of ganja for Rs 6,000 and they were planning to sell it to clients in Bidar for over Rs 10,000 a kilo, SOT Inspector G Naveen said.