Interstate ganja smuggling network busted in Maharashtra, 5 Arrested

Police in Maharashtra have busted an interstate ganja smuggling syndicate, tracing it from cultivators in Naxal-affected forests of Odisha to bulk receivers in Goa, officials said on Tuesday, August 11.

Five key operatives have been arrested, and the contraband valued at Rs 4.5 lakh has been seized, the Kalyan Government Railway Police (GRP) here said.

After launching the probe on June 1, the GRP initially apprehended



two individuals — Nikkikumar Hardev Shah (19) and Kuldeep Raju Mahto Mandal (26), both transit carriers hailing from Bihar, at Kalyan Railway Station and seized 21.95 kg of ganja from them, the police said.

Their interrogation, analysis of call detail records, mobile locations and financial transactions showed that the contraband was sourced from Odisha and meant for retail distribution in Goa via transit through Maharashtra, the police said.