Crime Files

Man held trying to smuggle ganja via train

A 29-year-old hotel employee was arrested by the Cantonment Railway Police on Thursday for smuggling ganja aboard the Prasanthi Express. The accused, Bhuban Batri, hailing from Kalyansingpur in Odisha’s Rayagada district, was apprehended on Platform 1 while waiting with two suspicious bags.

The police officers who were patrolling the area noticed Batri’s nervous behaviour, and upon searching his luggage, they recovered 24.160 kg of ganja, packed into two bags, with an estimated street value of 2.4 lakh.

During interrogation, Batri confessed that he had purchased the drugs for `50,000 from a contact in Tekkari, Odisha, intending to sell them to clients in Bengaluru.

Authorities suspect Batri is a habitual offender and could be involved in a larger drug smuggling racket with a history of peddling narcotics. He has been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and further investigations are underway to trace his network.

Murder attempt: 6 arrested

The Rajagopal Nagar police on Monday arrested six individuals involved in an alleged murder attempt near the Laggere Hale Bus Stand. According to the complainant, Narendra, also known as Das, a rowdy sheeter, on the night of September 26, he and his friends gathered at his residence in Laggere, Kapila Nagar. While they were having dinner, they were attacked by a group of individuals identified as Ramesh (Patilu), Tejas (Tiger), Manjunath (Moothi), Arun, and Dixit, with the intent to commit murder. The complainant and his friends narrowly escaped the attack. A case has been registered under sections 109, 118(1), 189(2), 190, 191(2), 329(4), and 25(12)(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).