Karanjia: Opium worth Rs 3 crore 10 lakh has been seized in Simlipal Forest Range after a massive raid was conducted in the area.
As per official sources, the raid was conducted by Jashipur Police, Excise Department officials (Forest Department) and Tahasildar of Jashipur. During raid the officials seized over 1.5 lakh opium trees in Jojagada and Phulbadi village under the forest range. The worth of these opium trees is said to be over Rs 3 crore and 10 lakh.
Further investigation into the matter is underway. Earlier, crores worth opium trees were destroyed by the officials in the forest range.
In a similar instance, the pecial Task Force (STF) of the crime branch on Friday have made the biggest seizure of opium in Odisha and two inter-state drug traffickers have been arrested in this connection at Panposh area in Rourkela.
The accused have been identified as Bitu Singh (46) and Rohit Munda (49) of Jharkhand. Both the accused are native to the Khunti district in Jharkhand.
During the search, the joint team recovered and seized opium weighing 10.508 kg and other incriminating materials from their possession. The accused persons could not produce any document or authority for possession of such contraband opium. Consequently, they were arrested and forwarded to the court of the Additional District and Session Judge-cum-Special Judge, Rourkela.
A case has been registered in this connection against the two accused under Section 18(b)/29 of the NDPS Act 1985, and further investigation is underway.
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Ms Kalinga