More than four quintals of “high-quality” ganja (marijuana) — estimated to be worth Rs 2.5 crore at least — being smuggled in a truck from Maoist stronghold of Malkangiri district in Odisha to UP’s Mathura district was seized and eight members of an interstate gang were arrested after an encounter by Firozabad police on Monday.
According to senior police officers, the eight criminals included gang lynchpin, Satyabhan Pandey.

Upon receiving a tip-off on Sunday that a truck from Naxal-hit area in Odisha was transporting a large consignment of contraband and after supplying a few packets in Firozabad district, the vehicle would leave for Mathura district, Firozabad police swung into action and started checking vehicles and intensified patrolling across the district, said police sources.

Late Sunday evening, a patrolling team spotted a truck parked at a defunct petrol pump in Rapari village under Naseerpur police station and found the accused transferring a few packets to a red sedan car from the truck.

Senior superintendent of police Ajay Kumar said, “On being surrounded, the smugglers opened fire at the police team. Following a late-night encounter, eight members of an interstate gang were arrested and 458 kg of high-quality ganja, the estimated cost of which would be Rs 2.5 crore in the international market — was seized from the truck and the red car. Besides, two illegal weapons and live cartridges were also seized from the possession of the smugglers.”

“Five arrested smugglers, including gang leader Satyabhan Pandey, are residents of Mathura, while three others are residents of Odisha’s Angul district. Satyabhan and another gang member Kanhaiyalal Pandey have several criminal cases registered against them in Mathura district. We are searching for other members associated with the gang, and have alerted Mathura police, too,” added the SSP.

Additional superintendent of police Rajesh Kumar said, “During the preliminary investigation, we found that the gang was operating in Agra region for the past seven years. The ganja was mainly supplied to Mathura district owing to its high demand among foreign tourists. The arrested gang members have named 25 people from Mathura and Firozabad districts associated with them in the illegal business. Several teams have been assigned the task to arrest them. Besides, we are also tracking their networks in other states and investigating the Maoist connection of the gang.”

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