The Excise Department seized a staggering 5 quintals of ganja (cannabis) from a courier office located near Kesinga Road in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi district.
The contraband, ingeniously concealed inside foam packing boxes, was slated for transport to Uttar Pradesh.
Following the raid, authorities arrested the courier office manager, identified as Satindra Kumar Pandey, a native of Madhepur Ninaiya village under Salon police station limits in Raebareli district, Uttar Pradesh. He has since been forwarded to court.
According to preliminary findings from the ongoing investigation, the massive drug consignment was being shipped to the address of an Additional District and Sessions Judge in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. However, suspicious discrepancies quickly surfaced—the parcel bore no judge’s name, nor did it list any sender name or return address. Investigators believe the perpetrators intentionally utilised this high-profile judicial address to evade suspicion and bypass routine security checks during transit.
Additional Excise Superintendent Sagarika Pradhan stated that a comprehensive probe is currently underway to unearth the wider syndicate operating behind this sophisticated courier smuggling network. Authorities suspect that several more individuals are involved, and further arrests are anticipated in the coming days.
