Cops nab 'ganja transporter' after early morning chase

The city police have seized 51.7 kg of ganja estimated worth Rs 10.5 lakh. One person from neighbouring district Kasargod has been arrested in this connection.

Announcing this to media on Thursday here, City Police Commissioner M Chandra Sekhar said, “The accused has been identified as Moiddin Nawas, aged 29 years. He is a resident of Bythul Muna Manzil, near Government Higher Secondary School, Uppala, in Kasargod. He was arrested in an early morning operation on Thursday, near Natekal Cross in Konaje police area, when he was found smuggling the narcotic stuffed in two sacks in an Innova car bearing Kerala registration number (KL 14 R 7339).”

The commissioner said that it was also the one of the biggest seizures in narcotics in the recent past, after 10 kg ganja was seized six months ago. The multi-utility vehicle used in the crime is estimated at Rs 10.5 lakh, the seizure worth totalling Rs 20.5 lakh including ganja, he added.

Chandra Sekhar said, acting on an information, a 20-member team of city crime branch (CCB) sleuths led by Inspector Suneel Y Nayak and SI Shyam Sundar carried out a planned operation to intercept the vehicle. “It was not an easy task, as the accused, upon noticing the cops, drove through the barricades at one point.

Undeterred, the police personnel chased him to a distance and succeeded in stopping him near Natekal cross.”

Carrier
The accused, who is apparently believed to be a carrier (transporter), had procured the contraband articles from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It was intended to be distributed at Mangaluru city and Kasargod district.

Reacting to media queries, the commissioner said, the accused is still being interrogated to unearth details about kingpins, if any, in the mafia. The accused had returned to his native place a year ago, after losing his job at a plastic factory in Dubai.

The commissioner, who had initially said that the stuff was in powdered form, later clarified that the sampling is yet to be conducted to ascertain the same. “The vehicle is neither owned by the arrested nor hired by him. He was the only person in the vehicle, when the CCB men stopped the vehicle,” the commissioner replied to a particular query.
DH News Service