Mysuru police help sought for catching key culprits in ganja racket

Earlier, the Excise had identified the kingpin of the ganja supply chain, Raju Bhai, a native of Punjab, currently residing in Telangana.
Representational image (Express Illustration)
Representational image (Express Illustration)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three days after an excise special squad seized 500 kilogram of ganja, the biggest ganja gaul in the state, from a container truck at Korani near Attingal, the excise department has sought the assistance of Mysuru police to trace the culprits. On Tuesday, a team from Mysuru police came to Thiruvananthapuram seeking more details about the seizure. Sources said a team from the Excise special squad will be heading to Mysuru following a tip off that the accused persons are being harboured by the ganja racket in Mysuru. 

The Excise team has also filed a petition before the Chief Judicial Magistrate on Wednesday seeking the custody of the arrested persons Krishna Yadav, a native of Jharkhand and Kulwant Singh, a native of Punjab. They were the driver and cleaner of the truck respectively. The sleuths said more details of the persons involved in the case would come out after a detailed interrogation of the two. 

Earlier, the Excise had identified the kingpin of the ganja supply chain, Raju Bhai, a native of Punjab, currently residing in Telangana. The accused persons who facilitated the ganja smuggling in a truck are being protected by the racket led by Raju Bhai. According to Excise,  Sebu, the key agent in the state, Jithesh of Kannur and Apesh of Thiruvananthapuram went absconding since the seizure, and they had reportedly fled to Mysuru.  

G Harikirishna Pillai, assistant excise commissioner, Excise Enforcement and Anti Narcotic Special Squad, said the probe team found some hints about the place where the accused are hiding and efforts were on to nab them. “We have got the details of key persons involved in bringing ganja to the state. We will get more details when the arrested persons are grilled once again. With the help of Mysuru police, we will nab the accused soon, including Raju Bhai,” Pillai said. 

The truck, after supplying ganja to the dealers based in Kannur, Kozhikode and Thrissur, landed in the Excise net. The Andhra Pradesh-registered truck was intercepted by the squad around 9.30am on the national highway at Korani when they were proceeding to Thiruvananthapuram for supplying ganja to Apesh. 

The ganja was packed in 250 packets, each weighing 2kg, and concealed in secret chambers on the top of the container. The raid was carried out following a tip-off received by the Excise (Thiruvananthapuram range).The truck was coming from Mysuru and entered the state via Kannur for supplying the contraband to various parts of the state. The excise sleuths said the value of the consignment would be estimated around `20 crore. 

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