Odisha police crackdown on ganja peddlers; properties worth over Rs 3 crore seized

Odisha police on Sunday seized over Rs 3 crore worth of cannabis (ganja), cash, and other properties from a father-son duo in raids across several locations officials said.

The duo- Bijay Kumar Pani (50) and his son Satrujit Pani (23)- was arrested by a Special Task Force (STF) on 3 May with six quintals of ganja and Rs 60 lakh in cash in their possession, Puri Superintendent of Police K Vishal Singh told reporters in a press conference. They were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) act, the Explosive Substance Act, and other relevant sections under the Indian Penal Code.

A financial investigation has been ordered in order to break the duo’s funding and trace and identify the illegally acquired property by the Panis.

A police team on Sunday, acting on a tip-ff, raided various locations and seized movable and immovable properties valued at more than Rs 3 crore from the accused. The duo had acquired several such properties from the ill-gotten money obtained by peddling cannabis, the Puri SP said.

The accused were procuring ganja from Kandhmal and had stored it at spread-out locations, with the intention of selling it during the upcoming Rath Yatra that starts in Puri this June.