IN A major anti-narcotics operation, combined team of Crime Branch, Civil Lines and Gosalpur Police arrested three persons, including two women and seized 8.76 kg of ganja worth Rs 4.38 lakh, along with two mobile phones and Rs 11,840 in cash from them. Additional SP (Crime), Jitendra Singh disclosed this while addressing a press conference, on Sunday. SHO, Civil Lines House Officer Swapnil Das informed that a joint Crime Branch and Civil Lines police team spotted a man and a woman behaving suspiciously near the auto stand outside the parcel office on Platform No. 1 of Jabalpur Railway Station during a patrol on the night of July 19. The suspects were identified as Nandani Garhwal (37), a resident of Gayatri Nagar in Katni district, currently residing in Prem Sagar, Hanumantal and Mahendra Bhatt (27), a resident of Prem Sagar, Hanumantal. In their search, police seized 5.7 kg of ganja in five packets carried in their bags.

 

During interrogation, the duo told police that the consignment had been arranged at the behest of Dilip Chaudhary, a resident of Sindhi Camp, Hanumantal and that they had received an advance payment of Rs 10,000 for transporting it. Police seized the narcotics, valued at approximately Rs 2.85 lakh, along with two mobile phones and Rs 11,840 in cash. A case has been registered against both accused under Sections 8/20 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. In a separate operation on the same day, a joint Crime Branch and Gosalpur police team intercepted Kahkasha Bano (21) at a passenger waiting shelter on NH30 near Gosalpur. She is a resident of Mehdwani in Dindori district and currently lives near Shiva Palace in Budhagar, Gosalpur. Police recovered 3.06 kg of ganja packed in two parcels from her bag. During questioning, she disclosed that she had travelled with Nandani Garhwal and Mahendra Bhatt to Jhadsukda in Odisha, where the two had procured the ganja and handed over two packets to her with the promise of Rs 3,000 for transporting them. She said she got off at Gosalpur Railway Station and was waiting for her husband, Shivam Sahu, when she was apprehended. Police said further investigation is underway to identify and apprehend others involved in the interstate narcotics supply network.