The Tirupati district police nabbed an international ganja smuggling gang and seized 240 kg of ganja bound for Sri Lanka on Monday. The contraband was being transported from Anakapalle when it was intercepted at Sullurpeta on the Kolkata-Chennai national highway, said the police.
Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) Additional Superintendent N. Rajendra and a team led by Deputy Superintendent M. Rajagopal Reddy had conducted vehicle checks at the Sullurpeta bypass road when they found 120 packets (240 kg) of ganja in a concealed chamber in a truck coming from the Nellore side.
The police immediately intercepted an SUV that piloted the truck and nabbed those inside it.
The arrested included C. Ananda Velu (48), Bala Krishnan (60), C. Tirumala (38), K. Raghunathan (41), all from Chennai and J. Varadarajan (37) of Tindivanam, D. Luv Raju (28), Kakarla Yesu (25) and B. Ravi (41) from Anakapalle. Appala Naidu of Anakapalle and Khader Bhai of Sri Lanka are on the run, said the police.
Producing the seized contraband before the media on Monday, Superintendent of Police P. Parameswara Reddy said that the main accused, Ananda Velu, was a habitual offender operating along Tamil Nadu coastal belt, including Chennai, Rameswaram, Thoothukudi, Dhanushkodi, Velanganni, Nagapatnam and Tiruchendur to ensure regular ganja supply to Sri Lanka. “He made transactions in gold instead of cash,” Mr. Reddy explained.
Ananda Velu was wanted in several cases across Andhra Pradesh, including a redsanders smuggling case of 2005 in Tirupati.
The other accused, Appala Naidu, has a Preventive Detention Act case registered against him, charging him of smuggling ganja from the Odisha border to his counterparts in Tamil Nadu.
“We have initiated the process of serving red corner notice and lookout notice through the CID to nab Khader Bhai,” the Superintendent said. He presented rewards to the excelling police personnel of Sullurpeta and Doravari Satram stations for busting the crime”.