Brown sugar worth Rs 50 lakh seized

The excise department sleuths of Cuttack district today seized over 450 grams of brown sugar, believed to be worth nearly Rs 50 lakh in the gray market, after intercepting a car on Mahanadi river bridge, near Gandarpur here.
The excise flying squad has also arrested two persons in this connection and seized the vehicle in which they were peddling the contraband.
Sources in the department said the arrested include a former tax collector of Khordha municipality.
It also informed that the drug peddlers were carrying the narcotic substances in the vehicle to be sold in Bhubaneswar and nearby areas after collecting them from various locations bordering West Bengal in Balasore district.

The squad had also seized around 280 grams of brown sugar, worth over Rs 30 lakh, after raiding two locations in the city in December last year.
Two persons were also arrested in this connection last month.