- UP Special Task Force and Bihar police arrest three drug network members in Gaya
- Police recover 684 kg of ganja worth Rs 1.71 crore from a truck
- Accused drives Creta as pilot car to guide ganja truck evading police on highway
In a major breakthrough against interstate narcotics trafficking, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) along with the Bihar Police arrested three members of a drug smuggling network and seized 684 kg of cannabis, valued at approximately Rs 1.71 crore. The arrests took place in Gaya's Barachatti today.
Those arrested have been identified as Vikas Yadav, a resident of UP's Chandauli; Sanjeev Tiwari, and Dheeraj Kumar Gupta, both residents of Rohtas district in Bihar.
During the operation, officials recovered a truck used for transporting the contraband, one Hyundai Creta SUV used as a pilot vehicle, six mobile phones, and two driving licences from the accused.
The operation involved sustained intelligence gathering over several days, after credible inputs indicated that narcotic smuggling networks were actively moving large consignments from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, UP STF Additional SP Raj Kumar Mishra told NDTV.
Based on these inputs, the STF tracked the movement of a suspicious truck believed to be carrying a large quantity of cannabis from Odisha's Sambalpur-Boudh, Odisha, to Bihar's Dehri.
On receiving confirmation, the UP STF coordinated with the Bihar Police and jointly intercepted the vehicles, resulting in the arrests and recovery.
During interrogation, the accused Dheeraj Kumar Gupta confessed that he led an organised drug trafficking gang, with Sanjeev Tiwari as his partner. The consignment, hidden inside salt sacks, had been sourced from Odisha through suppliers named Saroj and Ashok, and was meant to be delivered to Balram Pandey, a narcotics distributor in Rohtas district.
The police said Pandey further distributes cannabis across Bihar and bordering UP districts, including Chandauli, Varanasi, and Ghazipur. The accused reportedly used the Creta car to pilot the truck, staying ahead of it to detect police checking and alert the driver.
A case has been filed with Barachatti police station in Gaya under the relevant sections of the NDPS Act, and further investigation is underway.
