Rachakonda police bust 2 drug rackets, seize 222 kg ganja

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda police seized 222 kg of ganja and arrested five persons in two separate cases on 3 March.

In the first case, the ganja was being transported from Chintur in East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, to Mumbai, Maharashtra, via Zaheerabad in Telangana in an auto.

On 13 March, the sleuths of the special operations team, Malkajgiri zone, along with the local police intercepted the auto at the Jodimetla crossroads in Ghatkesar and apprehended Badavath Ravi of Bhadradri Kothagudem. The police seized 102 kg of ganja, the auto, and a mobile phone – all worth Rs. 20.50 lakh. Four others – Suresh, Bhanu Das, Ramesh, and Shahin – are absconding.

On the morning of 13 March, Suresh handed over the auto containing 40 packets of ganja to Ravi and instructed him to go to Zaheerabad in Sangareddy district and hand over the drugs to Bhanu, Ramesh, and Shahin. Ravi was on his way to deliver the contraband when he was arrested at the Jodimetla crossroads. The police found the ganja packets tied under the auto with ropes. Some packets were hidden in the speakers in the back seat and some were concealed behind the engine box.

Ravi was earlier involved in two cases and was arrested by the Kotahgudem forest department in 2020 for smuggling pangolin scalps. He was absconding in an NDPS case registered in the Chintur police station.

120 kg ganja, two litres hash oil seized

In another incident, four drug peddlers were nabbed by the SOT, Malkajgiri team. They seized 120 kg of ganja, two litres hash oil, and a car – all worth Rs. 35 lakh – from them. On 13 March, the SOT Malkajgiri team received a tip-off and intercepted a Maruthi Swift at the Nalgonda flyover bridge under the Bhongir town police station limits. The four were transporting ganja and hash oil from Araku, Vizag, to Hyderabad. They were planning to sell them to local drug peddlers and customers.

One of the arrested, Sriram Narsimha Chary (36) of Medchal Malkajgiri district, is a habitual offender involved in about 100 cases in Rachakonda, Hyderabad, and Cyberabad commissionerates, the police said. The other two who were arrested along with Chary are Gujjari (26), Vadla Ganesh Chary (26), and Chintalapalli Arun. Seven other members of the gang – Venkat, Kumar, Gaddupati Vinay Kumar, Sainath, Rahul, and Sathish – are absconding.

According to the police, Chary used to purchase ganja for Venkat, a resident of Araku in Vizag, for Rs. 2,000-3,000 per kg and hash oil for Rs. 40,000-50,000 per litre. He used to bring it to Hyderabad and sell the ganja for Rs. 15,000-20,000 per kg and the hash oil for Rs. 3 lakh per litre to Kumar, Gujjari Sai, Satish Naidu, Vinay, Sainath, and Rahul.

A week ago, Chary and Gujjari went to Araku and ordered 120 kg of ganja and two litres of hash oil from Venkat. Two days later, as per Chary's directions his brother-in-law Ganesh Chary, Chinthala Arun, and Kumar went in two cars to Araku to collect the ganja. On 13 March, they packed the ganja and hash oil and left for Hyderabad.

On a tip-off, the SOT Malkajgiri team intercepted the car and apprehended the four men along with the contraband at the Nalgonda flyover bridge.