After a catch of 2,500 kg ganja on May 12, in another case on Friday, the rural police seized about 690 kg dry ganja, at Balgattam Junction checkpost under Narsipatnam (Town) police station limits, in Visakhapatnam district.

The police ascertained that the ganja load was being shifted to Delhi, where it would cost around ₹1 crore.

According to Narsipatnam Town PS Inspector, Mr. Lakshman Rao, the arrested persons have been identified as Ashok Kumar Mowrya (27) and Mohan Kishore Sharma (26), residents of Delhi.

The smugglers reached Visakhapatnam through the air route on Thursday and had gone to Chintapalle via Narsipatnam. In order to escape the police net, the smugglers fabricated a cabin inside a van, in which they have stored ganja in gunny bags.

Police said that the van was totally empty and the smugglers claimed that the van had just undergone repairs.

However, upon suspicion, the cabin was broke open, where the ganja was discovered.

“The duo claim that they are unaware of the ganja inside the cabin and they were just sent to bring back the van after getting it repaired from Chintapalle to Delhi. However, we strongly suspect that it was a well-planned operation,” said Mr. Lakshmana Rao.

Huge quantities

During the year 2018, the Visakhapatnam Rural police have caught about 16,000 kg ganja in about 153 cases. This 2019, in a span of just four months, the police have seized around 7,000 kg ganja, in 55 cases, which is almost 45% compared to the entire last year. Apart from police, the Excise Department teams have seized over 1,050 kg ganja in two cases at V Madugula and Rolugunta police station limits.

As per the police records, almost 90% of these cases were booked after forces were withdrawn from the Agency areas after the elections.

Lifting of check posts

“For almost a month, there was no major ganja trade, as almost 25 check posts were arranged as a part of the model code of conduct. Since the check posts were lifted, ganja smuggling has picked up,” said an Excise official from Visakhapatnam district, on condition of anonymity.

The officer also said after a brief gap, the demand from northern States has increased fourfold.