Odisha largely free from caste, religion resonance in electoral politics
Caste calculation, religious affiliation has never emerged as a tool to woo voters.
The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Crime Branch police on Thursday busted an interstate drug peddling racket by arresting three drug peddlers and confiscating brown sugar worth over Rs 1.3 crore.
The drug peddlers identified as Sheikh Mohammad Alli, Syed Imtiyaz and Ratiranjan Routray were nabbed near Razabazar under Jatni police station jurisdiction of Khordha district.
A haul of 1.320 kilograms of brown sugar, cash of Rs.1.65 lakh, a motorcycle and other incriminating materials were recovered and seized from their possession.
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The arrested drug peddlers were later remanded to judicial custody under sections 21(c)/29 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NDPS) Act, 1985, the STF officials informed.
The STF is continuing its well-orchestrated operation on drug peddlers across the State. And that is paying rich dividends. In the past 27 months, the STF has seized 50 kilograms of brown sugar. The seized narcotic substances would have fetched the drug peddlers nearly Rs 50 crore in black market.
Besides, around 90 quintals of cannabis were also seized during the period by STF with 128 drug peddlers put behind bars.
The banned substances are making their way to Odisha from Murshidabad in West Bengal. Balasore district bordering Bengal has become the gateway to drug peddling networks in the State. The source point of brown sugar trade in the State owes its origin to Murshidabad, the officials confided.
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