Koraput Police Arrest Five Hardcore Criminals For Ganja Trafficking And Arms Possession

Bhubaneswar: In a massive crackdown on organized crime and narcotics smuggling, Koraput Police on Wednesday arrested five hardcore criminals involved for ganja trafficking and arms possession.

The police also invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against Hrudananda Nayak alias Prince (35). Police said Nayak, son of Trinath Nayak, is a habitual offender and a dangerous criminal with 17 cases registered against him for extortion, NDPS violations, and dacoity across Jeypore, Borigumma, and Nabarangpur. His criminal activities had created fear in the local communities.

"This is indeed a success for the team in the ongoing anti-crime drive. This is the first arrest under NSA and the accused was in the police radar for quite some time. The NSA was invoked against him after fulfilling all legal procedures to prevent further disruption of public order. We are planning to slap NSA on more such people," Kanwal Vishal Singh, DIG, South Western Range told ETV Bharat

Police said, acting on credible intelligence, a team led by SI Surendra Kumar Sethi of Padwa Police Station intercepted a vehicle transporting ganja from Dokanput area towards Pottangi. The vehicle ignored police signals to stop at Mali Sublar Chhak and sped away, prompting a brief high-speed chase.

The vehicle was eventually cornered but its five occupants tried to flee into a nearby forest. One of them even brandished a pistol to threaten police personnel, police sources said. However, the police team overpowered the accused without any casualties.

The accused have been identified as, Lal Bahadur Darjee (34) of Kusumput, a repeat offender with over 20 criminal cases, including under the POCSO Act, NDPS Act, extortion, and organized crime. He was an absconder with multiple non-bailable warrants pending against him. The other four are Trinath Khara (30), Suresh Bisoi (22), Sanjaya Khara (19) and Jogesh Khara (20), from Machkund.

The police also seized 350 kg ganja, two pistols and a brown pistol marked “Auto Distal Made in USA” from Lal Bahadur Darjee along with one golden pistol with a magazine. "A team of Odisha police will visit to Bihar to investigate the supply of pistol," Singh further added.

Koraput SP Rohit Verma said, the swift and coordinated efforts of the Padwa Police team led to the success of the drive which will continue to dismantle criminal networks engaged in narcotics trade, arms smuggling, and organized extortion in the region.

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