Gorakhpur, June 4 (IANS) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized 406 kg of ‘ganja’ (contraband substance) in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and arrested four accused who were taking the contraband to Deoria from Tezpur in Assam, an official said on Thursday.

The NCB Gorakhpur Zone, in coordination with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF), achieved the breakthrough when they arrested two persons on Wednesday, a statement said.

Acting on specific intelligence, NCB Gorakhpur intercepted a pickup van on the Salempur–Lal Bazar Main Road in Deoria and seized 202 kg of ganja concealed in the vehicle, the statement added.

During the follow-up investigation, NCB teams conducted further operations in Barhaj town of Deoria, resulting in the recovery of an additional 204.8 kg of ganja and the arrest of two more accused, it said.

With two separate recoveries, the total seizure by the NCB and Uttar Pradesh STF totalled 406.8 kg of ganja, it added.

The four accused were charged with offences under the relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.

The NCB said that investigation was underway to identify and apprehend other persons involved in the trafficking network and to ascertain the forward and backward linkages of the contraband.

In a separate operation in Maharashtra earlier, the NCB arrested two drug traffickers and recovered 702 kg ganja while busting a major interstate trafficking network in Gondia, an official said.

“The 702 kg ganja was concealed in 100 packets among grocery cargo items, including detergent, toothpaste and hair dye, was recovered and seized,” the official said in a statement.

The seized contraband was sourced from Odisha and destined for multiple Maharashtra-based drug syndicates operating in Nagpur, Gondia, Pune and Mumbai.

In another case, the NCB secured jail terms in a Mumbai court for five drug traffickers, including the kingpin, in a synthetic drug trafficking case.

The convicts were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 15 years to one year, a statement added.

The Special NDPS Court in Thane sentenced the kingpin Mohammed Arif Yaqoob Bhujwala, a resident of Mumbai’s Chinchbunder, to 15 years’ imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 2 lakh, the NCB’s Mumbai Zonal Unit said.

“Parvez Khan alias “Chinku Pathan” and Mohammed Salman Khan, both residents of Chinchbunder, along with Vikrant Jain, a resident of Bhiwandi in Thane, were awarded five years’ imprisonment each and fined Rs 50,000 each,” the NCB added.

“Haris Faizullah Khan, resident of Bandra West in Mumbai, was sentenced to one-year imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs 10,000,” it said.

The NCB investigation led to freezing of two movable and three immovable properties worth more than Rs 1.5 crore belonging to Parvez Khan alias Chinku Pathan.

–IANS

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