Two absconding drug smugglers arrested in Odisha
Bhubaneswar (IANS). The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Crime Branch has arrested two absconding accused involved in separate cases under the NDPS Act.
The accused persons have been identified as Mohammad Saddam of Pipli area of Puri district and Chittaranjan Behera of Fatehgarh in Nayagarh district.
According to sources, Mohammad Saddam, who was absconding for the last 20 months in the NDPS case, was caught by STF during a raid in Khordha district on Friday.
Authorities had earlier recovered 3.110 kg of brown sugar during a raid in Nayagarh district on January 24, 2022. Its price was around Rs 3.10 crore. Apart from this, the team had seized various weapons, ammunition and Rs 65.32 lakh in cash.
Mohammad Saddam along with some others had managed to elude the police during a raid in 2022. Chittaranjan was absconding for the last two years, but on Friday he was arrested by STF from his hideout in Bhubaneswar city.
He is involved in a case registered at STF police station on December 20, 2021. Police had reportedly arrested two other associates of Chittaranjan from Bhapur area of Dhenkanal district and seized heroin worth over Rs 1 crore from their possession. He had confessed to purchasing the seized drugs from Chittaranjan.
Both Mohammed Saddam and Chittaranjan were produced in separate courts in Nayagarh and Dhenkanal districts respectively on Saturday.
