Rachakonda police arrest 4 drug traffickers, seize 1,300 kg ganja

HYDERABAD: The Rachakonda police apprehended four interstate drug traffickers on Thursday and seized 1,300 kg of ganja (marijuana), a DCM van and two cell phones, among others, all worth Rs 2,80,000.

According to the police, two of the accused, Penta Rao and Rajesh Kumar, indulged in the illegal shipment of ganja. They frequently smuggled the narcotic substance from the Maredumilli agency region of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad and destinations in other states including Madhya Pradesh for their potential consumers. They made huge profits with the illegal narcotic trade.

While hauling products to Raipur in Chattishgarh a year ago, Narendra Harijan, a DCM driver and the third accused, and Rajesh, a resident of Chattishgarh, who worked at the Jai Hambe Transport office, became good friends.

Rajesh owns two DCM vans that he used for the transportation of goods. He lured Narender with a large sum of money to work for him and Penta Rao, who supplies ganja from the Maredumilli Agency area.

On the instructions of Rajesh, Narender would transport ganja in the DCM van to Hyderabad and other places, earning Rs 50,000 for each trip. After a short while, Narender quit his job as the DCM driver and started working as a supervisor at a transport office in Jai Hambe that belongs to Rajesh. Since then, they have been shipping ganja to Madhya Pradesh, and Rajesh has been paying Rs 1 lakh to Narender and Rs 50,000 to Chandresh Sakheth after each trip.

On Rajesh Kumar's instructions, Narender and Chandresh left Raipur on October 2 and arrived at Jaggampet on October 3, where they waited for Penta Rao.

Later that night, Penta Rao visited them and took them into a dense forest area in their DCM van. They loaded a total of 40 bags of ganja, weighing approximately 1,300 kg, before departing. However, they were apprehended by Hayathnagar police at Anandbagh Chowrasta in Malkajgiri of Hyderabad on Wednesday night. The Hayathnagar police, acting on a tipoff, stopped them and took them into custody while conducting checks at the Pedda Amberpet JCB junction. They seized 40 bags of ganja totaling approximately 1,300 kg.

A case has been registered at the Hayathnagar Police Station under relevant sections.