Brown sugar worth over Rs 1 cr seized in Odisha

Representational image [Photo: IANS]


The Special Task Force (STF) wing of the Crime Branch of Odisha Police has seized brown sugar valued at more than Rs one crore in the black market and has arrested the drug peddler from Unit-8 area of Bhubaneswar, said an STF official on Sunday.

“On the basis of intelligence input, the STF conducted a raid in Unit-8 area, Bhubaneswar with the help of Commissionerate Police, Bhubaneswar yesterday evening and apprehended the drug peddler Chittaranjan Sahoo. During the search, brown sugar weighing 1107 grams and other incriminating materials were recovered and seized from his possession,” the STF said in a statement.

The arrested drug peddler booked under Sections 21(c)/29 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 provisions was later remanded to judicial custody, it said.

The STF’s initiative to make Odisha free from the tentacles of drug peddlers is in full swing with assistance of police and other enforcement agencies. Since 2020, STF has seized more than 69 kilograms of brown sugar across the State. Majority of drug peddlers arrested so far are members of the interstate drug peddling racket, said Deputy Inspector General of Police, STF, Jay Narayan Pankaj.