Rachakonda police waging war on drugs, seized 10,567 kg ganja in 4 yrs

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda police seized 222 kg of ganja and arrested five persons in two separate cases earlier this month.

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, sleuths of the special operations team (SOT), Malkajgiri zone, along with the local police intercepted the auto at the Jodimetla crossroads in Ghatkesar and apprehended Badavath Ravi of Bhadradri Kothagudem. Besides 102 kg of ganja, the police seized an auto and a mobile phone. Its value is said to be Rs. 20.50 lakh. Four others –Suresh, Bhanu Das, Ramesh, and Shahin – are absconding.

In another incident, four drug peddlers were nabbed by the SOT, Malkajgiri. They seized 120 kg of ganja, two litres of hash oil, and a car – all worth Rs. 35 lakh – from them.

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.

These are a few of the cases where the Rachkonda police made major seizures and arrests over the last four years. Since 2018, the Rachakonda police have seized 10,567.246 kg of ganja, 6.5 litres of liquid ganja, 4.154 ml of hashish oil, 6.1 grams of methapheta, 840 grams of heroin, 584 grams of cocaine, 400 kgs of opium poppy seeds, 640 grams of alprazolam, 12 grams of brown sugar, 39.8 grams of amphetamine, and 433 yaba tablets.

Rachakonda cops have booked 233 cases for illegal possession and transportation of banned substances, arrested 592 persons, and detained 88 under the Preventive Detention Act. A house used for storing ganja was also seized under section 133 of the CrPC.

Since 2021, the Rachakonda police have booked 96 cases and seized 5,790.240 kg of ganja, three litres of liquid ganja, and 1,754 ml of hashish oil. They also seized 840 grams of heroin, 400 kg of opium poppy seeds, arrested 175 persons, and invoked PD Act against 33.

In the first three months of 2022, the police seized 1,295.760 kg of ganja, 5.05 litres of hashish oil, and 1,882.5 grams of opium oil. They arrested 196 persons and invoked the PD Act against 18 accused.

The Rachakonda commissionerate covers the three districts of Rangareddy, Medchal Malkajgiri, and Yadadri Bhuvnagiri spread over 5,091.48 square km and with a population of around 42 lakh.

"The commissionerate covers a huge area and also consists of two toll plazas where the consignment from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha passes through while being transported to Maharashtra, Haryana, and other states. So, among the three commissionerate of Hyderabad, we have more responsibility to track these consignments," said Mahesh Bhagwat, the commissioner of police, Rachakonda.

The commissioner also said that the increase in seizures is also due to the enforcement by the special operation team of Rachakonda. "We always appreciate and award our personnel due to which they focus on their duty of catching smugglers and peddlers. Our enforcement is the reason behind these large number of seizures," added Mr. Bhagwat.