Nagpur: In a major action, Crime Branch of Nagpur police seized 33 kg ganja hidden in toilet of Puri-Ahmedbad Express on Sunday. The heady stuff was stored in 16 packets. However, no arrest has reportedly made in this connection and cops are searching for the drug peddlers involved in the smuggling of narcotics. The seized ganja is worth around Rs 3.29 lakh.
The seizure of ganja came after a team of police, along with sniffer dogs, was deployed at Bhandara Road Railway Station to check explosive materials if any in the 02843 Puri-Ahmedbad Express around 2.25 pm on Sunday. During the checking near Kalamna Station, the sniffer dogs stopped at the toilet of S-4 Coach of the train. When cops opened the toilet door, they stumbled upon a khaki colour packet lying on floor. For confirmation of any explosives, cops pressed the sniffer dogs but found nothing. However, when cops opened the packet, they found ganja stuffed in the packet. Thorough inspection of the toilet revealed 15 more packets of ganja weighing total 33 kg.
Cops immediately started questioning the passengers travelling in the S-4 coach after the train reached Nagpur Station. But no passenger owned the packets which were smell-free. Each packet contained about 2 kg of ganja. The cache of ganja was unloaded at Platform No. 3 and after panchnama, the stuff was handed over to Itwari Railway Police for further course of action. An offence under Sections 20, 22(B) of NDPS Act was registered and a hunt has been launched to nab the ganja smugglers.
The entire action was carried out under the guidance of Divisional Safety Commissioner Pankaj Chugh and Assistant Commissioner S D Deshpande by Nagpur Crime Branch PSIs Vivek Meshram, K K Nikode, ASIs S S Sidam, M Ahmed, Head Constable S B Meshram, constable B Halmare, and dog handler S D Gavai.
