Bhubaneswar, May 3 (IANS) The Malkangiri Police of Odisha on Sunday busted a mobile hashish oil manufacturing unit and seized around 800 litres of chemicals and solvents used as precursors for manufacturing highly potent Hashish oil, said a senior̥ police official.

Following the seizure, Malkangiri Police stated that the volume of precursors seized on Sunday has the potential to yield finished hashish oil with an estimated market value of around Rs 100 crore.

For the past few days, Malkangiri Police received intelligence inputs suggesting that a hashish oil manufacturing unit was likely operating in the Chitrakonda area of the district. Acting on the tip-off, police teams began surveillance and verification of suspected locations.

Multiple raids were subsequently conducted across the area to trace and bust the illegal manufacturing unit. During the operations, the district police intensified search efforts in remote and forested pockets to bust the manufacturing units. However, due to intense police pressure, the whole set-up was being transported to various locations by the Syndicate members to avoid getting caught.

“Finally, on May 3, early morning, under the leadership of SDPO Chitrakonda Pradosh Pradhan, Malkangiri Police successfully busted the vehicle, carrying a complete clandestine hashish oil mobile manufacturing unit near Essar Chowk under Chitrakonda Police Station, leading towards the Sileru area of the district,” the senior police officials added.

Apart from the seizure of precursors, the police also seized one vehicle (AP registered) with a falsified registration number used for transporting materials, which was confiscated, 50kg of ganja and two litres of hashish Oil. However, the driver of the vehicle managed to escape into the dense jungle, taking advantage of the difficult terrain.

The Malkangiri district superintendent of police has formed multiple specialised teams to apprehend the absconding driver, find out details about other syndicate members involved in the illegal activities and the details of the vehicle seized on Sunday.

It is worth noting that amid heightened vigilance by security personnel against illegal ganja trafficking and growing challenges in transporting it undetected, smugglers are increasingly turning to the extraction of hashish oil. The product, being lower in volume, is easier to conceal and transport to buyers in other states.

–IANS

gyan/uk