88.70 lakh worth ganja seized in Prakasam district

Ongole: Prakasam district police seized ganja worth Rs 88.70 lakh, neatly sealed in 214 packets from a lorry at Tangutur toll plaza, said District Superintendent of Police Bhusarapu Satya Yesubabu.

Yesubabu said that on a tip-off and under the guidance of Ongole DSP B Srinivasa Rao, Singarayakonda CI P Devaprabhakar, SIs Hazarathaiah, Somasekhar, Nagamalleswara Rao and their staff conducted search on NH-16. He said that at 7 pm, police stopped a lorry bearing TN20 BW 5830 and found 214 packets of ganja weighing 443 kg in the cabin of the vehicle. 

The Superintendent of Police said that they arrested two lorry drivers Rasudevan Devendran and Tangamali Mani Raja, natives of Uttamapaliyam taluk in Teni district of Tamil Nadu. 

He said that they are friends and started transporting the ganja for extra money from Andhra Pradesh to deliver the same to Murugan and other gangs in Tamil Nadu. The SP said that the accused loaded 443 kg ganja on April 30 between Anakapalli and Narsipatnam.

The SP appreciated the DSP, CI and their staff and sent the accused to remand after receiving a complaint from deputy tahsildar of Tangutur, Shaik Muhammad Rafi.