Around 700 kg ganja, worth Rs 1.5 crore was seized in Chhattisgarh

No one was arrested as the driver and his helper managed to flee the spot leaving the truck and the consignment

In a major haul of contraband, around 700 kg ganja, worth Rs 1.5 crore was seized from a mini truck in Chhattisgarh's Balod district, police said on Wednesday.

"The police succeeded in seizing the consignment of the narcotics as they chased the truck under Daundi Lohara police station area on Balod-Rajnandgaon road last evening," Balod Superintendent of Police Sheikh Arif Hussain told PTI.

However, no one could be arrested from the vehicle as the driver and his helper managed to flee the spot leaving the truck and the consignment, he said.

After receiving inputs about movement of a massive consignment of ganja from the area three days ago, patrolling was intensified and checkpoints were set up at several places in the district, located around 80 away from here, he added.

Last evening, police personnel in Daundi Lohara had seen a mini truck moving at a high speed towards Rajnandgaon road and it tried to run away after seeing police, the SP said.

After chasing for about 1-2 kms, the police party saw the vehicle stranded on the road near a 'Dhan Mandi' (paddy storage centre). They found there was no one inside the truck, and it was filled with some scraps, the SP said.

"This morning, we carefully examined the vehicle and detected a secret compartment inside the trolley of the truck (load body) where ganja was concealed in neatly wrapped airtight packages each weighing about 6-7 kg," the officer said, adding there were 95 such packets.

The quantity of recovered contraband is about 700 kg worth Rs 1.5 crore, he said tagging the recovery as biggest ever in Chhattisgarh.

As per preliminary information, the consignment was suspected to be loaded from Odisha and was on its way to be delivered to Maharashtra for export.

However, more details will be cleared after further investigation, he said.

Fake number plates were being used in the vehicle. Although based on several clues, a hunt is on for persons suspected to be linked to the case, he said.

A case under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered in this connection, police said.