4 days ago
Police conduct state-wide raids to curb ganja smuggling on Odisha-bound trains
Vijayawada: In a joint state-wide operation, the elite anti-narcotics group for law enforcement (EAGLE) teams, in coordination with the govt railway police (GRP), railway protection force (RPF), and law and order police, simultaneously carried out searches on Odisha-bound trains at various railway stations across the state on Thursday.
The search operation was conducted to curb the illegal smuggling of ganja into Andhra Pradesh from the neighbouring state of Odisha via trains.
Search teams, led by EAGLE IG Ake Ravi Krishna along with GRP and RPF personnel, seized a total of 78 ganja-laced chocolates from a passenger during their searches on the Coromandel Express train on Thursday.
"The accused passenger, identified as Subahs Kumar Yadav, a native of Darbhanga district of Bihar, in his late 20s, was transporting the chocolates to Chennai," investigation officer (IO) GRP CI J Ramana told TOI.
He added that preliminary probe conducted by the police found that the accused works as a tea master at a tea shop in the Chennai Central station area.
The IO added that the seized chocolates have been sent for drug detection test analysis to examine the exact percentage of ganja present in these chocolates. A case was filed and probe is underway.
Briefing media persons about the state-wide operation, EAGLE chief IG A Ravi Krishna said that acting on the directions of AP DGP Harish Kumar Gupta, the EAGLE teams carried out the joint rail based operation. Ravi Krishna said that the police seized a total of four packets of ganja chocolates, two each in Coromandel Express and Jasidih - Tambaram weekly special trains at Vijayawada and Tenali railway stations. Additionally, 19 kgs of ganja was seized from the Rayagada train at Vizianagaram railway station during the day-long state-wide raids conducted by the police teams.
The IG said a total of 400 police personnel took part in the raids conducted across the state.
