1,200kg ganja seized from sheep pen in Kalaburagi

KALABURAGI/BENGALURU: When Bengaluru police detained autorickshaw driver Jnanasekhar 10 days ago and seized 2kg ganja from him in Seshadripuram limits, they were all set to dismiss him as small fry in the narcotics trade. But since he was supplying ganja to students, they decided to grill him more and his answers led to 1,200kg of ganja, hidden in a bunker in a sheepfold in Kalaburagi district.
“It is a mammoth seizure in the ongoing crackdown on drug trade,” Bengaluru city police commissioner Kamal Pant said.
A resident of Gayathrinagar near Malleswaram, Jnanasekhar told police he was sourcing drugs from Siddunatha Lavate (22) from Sindagi in Raichur district. Cops tracked down Lavate and arrested him at Madanayakanahalli in Bengaluru on September 6. Lavate, in turn, said he was procuring drugs from Chandrakant (34) in Raichur and Naganath (39) of Aurad in Bidar district.
“Immediately, a police team left for Kalaburagi and after a 14-hour search, traced Chandrakant and Naganath near Madagud toll gate. The team arrested them and the duo said they purchased the drugs from a person in Odisha and brought it by stuffing the packets inside gunny bags filled with vegetables. They said the drugs were kept in a sheep pen in a village,” Pant said.
Initially, police searching the sheepfold in Laccha Nayakana Tanda drew a blank. They tapped Chandrakant further and he then spilled the beans on the secret bunker. Several packets of ganja, sealed and taped, were found. The accused said they smuggled the drugs in vegetable trucks from Odisha to Karnataka, via Telangana. Based on their statements, police raided a village in Kamalapura hobli near National Highway 50 and seized another 150kg of ganja.
The haul triggered allegations of political patronage to the narcotics trade, amid the ongoing statewide crackdown.
Chittapur MLA Priyank M Kharge said being a transit point, Kalaburagi sees smuggling of drugs. “In the span of a year, leaders in power have granted permission for many recreational clubs. These clubs are known to nurture drug racketeers,” he said.
Maruti Manpade, a farmer leader, said: “Ganja is grown in Afzalpur and Chincholi. This has been going on for several decades, but perpetrators enjoy political patronage.”