Bhubaneswar: The Twin Cities Commissionerate of Police today busted a gang of traffickers of cannabis and seized over a quintal of cannabis in Bhubaneswar. Under the codename ‘Nighthawk’, the Commissionerate of Police arrested five persons involved in cannabis trafficking and divulged that the traffickers were spending the money earned illegally on making social media reels.

Commissioner of Police Sanjeeb Panda said the traffickers were living opulent life with the ill-gotten money. They used to hire models and young women and make social media reels. The police have seized videos from the smartphone of the prime accused, Pushpak Srichandan alias Jitu, who hails from Jankia in Khordha. Srichandan was a B.Tech Graduate and is the mastermind of the crime, the Commissioner of Police added.

The other accused are Milan Nayak alias Lipu who hails from Khorda, Sk Zamirullah alias Zamir from Jajpur, Ajmer Seikh alias Necbor from Birbhum in West Bengal and Sk Samir from Wardhaman, West Bengal.

Based on a tip-off, two teams of the Special Crime Unit intercepted the traffickers at Bomikhal in Bhubaneswar who were in a transit and seized 130 kg of cannabis from their possession. The Commissioner of Police said the accused will be taken into remand for further investigation.

Elaborating about the modus operandi, Panda said cannabis was being procured from Phiringia, Phulbani. The traffickers then used to bring the contraband to Tapanga Mundia in Khordha. As per the demand, they were bringing the cannabis to Bomikhal in Bhubaneswar. They were smuggling the consignments to Kolkata as well.

Panda said the traffickers were not coming out of their hideouts during 12 noon to 4 pm to avoid police frisking. Investigation will be carried out further to find out the backward linkages and involvement of other persons.

Per delivery of cannabis consignment, the accused were charging somewhere between ₹70,000 and ₹80,000. 

The Commissionerate of Police seized a Kia Seltos, a Honda Amaze and five mobile phones from the possession of the accused. 

This year so far, the Commissionerate of Police has registered 122 narcotic cases and seized 1,788 kgs of cannabis and two kgs of brown sugar. As many as 211 persons have been arrested and 40 vehicles have been seized.

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