Four held, inter-state ganja racket busted

Mangaluru: Police have busted an inter-state ganja trafficking network with the seizure of 22.25 kg of contraband valued at about Rs 11.12 lakh and the arrest of four persons near Jokatte Cross railway bridge under the jurisdiction of Panambur Police Station, officials said on Saturday. Acting on specific information that ganja sourced from outside the state was being brought for sale, the ACP of the North Sub-Division led a team along with the station PSI and staff to conduct the raid on Friday.

The arrested have been identified as Karan Babu Ram Jadhav (27) of Samata Nagar in Chopda taluk of Jalgaon district, Maharashtra; Sameer Shah (19) of Bagli tehsil in Dewas district, Madhya Pradesh; M H Mayyadi (48) of Hejamadi Kodi in Udupi district; and Ibrahim Khalil (47), a resident of Kudroli in Mangaluru, presently staying at Kavoor here.

Police said 22 kg 250 grams of ganja, six mobile phones worth about Rs 18,000, and two scooters — KA-20-HE-2915 and KA-19-HP-6021 — collectively valued at around Rs 1 lakh and allegedly used for transporting the contraband, were seized. The total value of the seized property is estimated at Rs 12.30 lakh.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Jadhav and Shah allegedly procured the ganja from sources in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and supplied it to Mayyadi and Khalil. The latter duo is suspected to have distributed the contraband in Udupi, Malpe, Karkala, Mulki, Surathkal, Panambur and other prominent areas of Mangaluru city.

The accused are also suspected to have previously trafficked ganja into Udupi district and Mangaluru city on multiple occasions, police said. A case has been registered at Panambur police station under Sections 8(c) and 20(b)(ii)(C) of the NDPS Act, and further investigation is underway.