Hyderabad: The State Task Force of the Prohibition and Excise Department arrested five persons in two separate cases and seized 11.7 kg of ganja, 97 grams of hash oil and 110 grams of ganja in Hyderabad on Thursday, August 13.
In the first case, the Excise STF-D team arrested three persons and seized 11.7 kg of ganja, estimated to be worth around Rs 6 lakh, in the Saroornagar area.
The arrested persons were identified as Elishala Naveen, 22, Jaka Shikakumar, 26, and Vaidya Jagadeesh, 26. According to excise officials, all three were working as employees in a real estate business and had allegedly become addicted to ganja through an Odisha native who was working at a real estate office.
With the help of the Odisha worker, the trio allegedly established contacts with ganja suppliers in Odisha. They would reportedly travel by motorcycles to places where ganja was being sold, procure consignments ranging from 10 kg to 20 kg and bring them back to Hyderabad for sale.
The STF-D team, led by Inspector Nagaraju, intercepted the three while they were allegedly engaged in selling ganja in the Saroornagar area. The officials seized a two-wheeler and mobile phones from their possession.
“A case was registered and the accused, along with the seized ganja, were handed over to the Saroornagar Excise Station for further investigation,” Inspector Nagaraju said.
In another operation, the Medchal-Malkajgiri Enforcement Team seized 97 grams of hash oil and 110 grams of ganja from two persons during a raid in the LB Nagar area following information about the illegal sale of narcotic substances.
The arrested persons were identified as Thota Sagar, 34, and Srikanth Sagar, 32.
The officials also seized a car and mobile phones allegedly used by the suspects. The two men, along with the seized hash oil and ganja, were handed over to the Saroornagar Excise Station for further action, Saroornagar Assistant Commissioner Pradeep Rao said.
The Excise Department said further investigation was under way in both cases.
