Two held with hashish brought in from Himachal

Surat: Acting on a tip off, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Surat city police arrested two persons with 488 gram of hashish (charas) worth Rs 2.44 lakh and seized a motor-bike and cash from their possession.
The accused have been identified as Rahul Basukinath Banka (32), a resident of Swami Gunatin Nagar on Bhatar Road, and Hukamram Narottam (47), a resident of Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. The twso accused arrested were booked under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 at the Khatodara police station of Surat.
“We had specific information that narcotics were being smuggled from Himachal Pradesh into Surat city so kept a watch near Mangalam flats on Bhatar Road on Sunday and arrested two persons with 488 gram of hashish,” a SOG official said.
“During the questioning, the accused confessed to having purchased the hashish from three wanted accused from Himachal Pradesh. Narottam came to Surat to deliver the contraband which was to be sold in the local market,” the official added.
Police said that an organized racket is being run to smuggle narcotics, especially hashish, into Surat from Himachal Pradesh. Three months ago, three accused were arrested by Surat city police with 4.684kgs of hashish.
The investigation into that case revealed that the narcotics were brought from Himachal Pradesh. “The questioning of the accused who had been arrested in the recent past also revealed that the racket was being operated from Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh,” police sources said.