Hyderabad: Four men from Maharashtra were arrested by Rachakonda police on Thursday for smuggling 166 kilograms of ganja through Hyderabad. The contraband was seized near Hayathnagar and is valued at approximately ₹50 lakh.
The accused were identified as Vikas Baban Salve, 30, Ranganath Yurajn Sadve, 36, Sagar Gajanan Khandebharad, 29, and Amol Narayan Borde, 26. Among them, Khandebharad is a central government employee working in the railways.
Police said Salve had previously been in contact with a supplier identified as Maik alias Rahul alias Dass from Odisha. He roped in the other accused with promises of easy money by tapping into the demand for ganja among labourers in Maharashtra.
The group allegedly procured the ganja from Malkangiri district, Odisha, and planned to use Hyderabad as a transit point for delivery to Maharashtra. On June 20, based on a tip-off, SOT LB Nagar and Hayathnagar police intercepted their vehicle, a Force Trax Cruiser (MH 20 CH 5017), during a check near Dhananjaya Function Hall.
Apart from the ganja, officers recovered four mobile phones, ₹6,200 in cash, and the vehicle. The total value of seized property is estimated at ₹65 lakh.
Police said Salve and Sadve both have pending non-bailable warrants in earlier NDPS cases reported from Alair and Bhadrachalam town respectively.
Efforts are ongoing to trace the main supplier, who is absconding. Officials are also verifying the complete criminal histories of the accused.
The operation was conducted under the supervision of Commissioner of Police G. Sudheer Babu, and guidance of DCP Ch. Praveen Kumar and Additional DCP Md. Shakir Hussain.
