Seven held with 195 kg ganja from Vatva GIDC

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad crime branch on Friday confiscated ganja weighing 195 kg, with an estimated street value of Rs 42.86 lakh from phase-4 of the Vatva GIDC area and arrested seven individuals for their alleged involvement in smuggling the contraband.According to the crime branch officials, the accused had recently transported the ganja, concealed in packets wrapped with packaging tape, from Odisha's Ganjam district in a truck. They said they intended to distribute the contraband to their contacts within the city.The crime branch team, acting on a reliable tip, raided a godown in the Vatva GIDC area, leading to the seizure of the contraband.The arrested individuals included four from Odisha — Sanjay Sahu (36), Sushant Gauda (34), Ajay Swain (27), and Laba Gauda (42). Three other accused from Ahmedabad included Manigadan Mudaliyar (47), a resident of Vrundavan apartments in Hathijan; Kumar Pandey (30) from Sanathal residency in Vejalpur; and Sandip Shah (23) from Khokhra.Investigations revealed that Mudaliyar and Pandey had arranged for the godown to store the ganja in the city, while Sahu, Gauda, Swain, and Gauda were responsible for smuggling the narcotic substance from Ganjam to Vatva. Shah's role was limited to unloading the stock from the truck into the godown.In addition to the seized ganja, the crime branch also confiscated the truck used for transporting the contraband from Odisha to Ahmedabad, valued at Rs 20 lakh. Furthermore, eight cellphones worth Rs 40,000 and three scooters worth Rs 1.20 lakh were recovered from the godown during the raid.The crime branch police registered a complaint under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act and initiated an investigation into the matter.
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