Over 4,700 kg ganja worth ₹15 crore seized from Assam-Tripura border

The truck was loaded with rubber sheets from the upper side but the packets of ganja were kept inside when the officials checked it

In one of the largest drug bust in Assam, a total of 4,728kg ganja hidden under rubber bundles in a truck was seized by Karimganj police near Assam-Tripura border.

The truck was coming from Tripura and the police caught the vehicle during a routine naka checking. (HT photo)

Superintendent of police of Karimganj district Padmanabh Baruah said the market value of the seized ganja is around ₹15crore.

The truck was coming from Tripura and the police caught the vehicle during a routine naka checking.

However, the driver managed to flee leaving the vehicle behind on the road.

Acting on a tip-off, police launched a drive at Churaibari (Assam-Tripura border) naka check point on National Highway-8 (NH-8) on Monday evening.

At around 9pm, police officials found a 12-wheeler truck was abandoned on the road.

“The driver must have sensed that he’ll get caught so he fled leaving the vehicle on road. The truck was loaded with rubber sheets from the upper side but the packets of ganja were kept inside. The cost of 4,728 kg ganja in markets will be around ₹15crore according to our sources,” Baruah said.

Police official from Churaibari police check point, Niranjan Das said the goods carrier truck was coming from Tripura side.

“We checked the abandoned truck thoroughly and found that a large amount of ganja was concealed under rubber sheet bundles. The truck along with the ganja were seized in presence of independent witnesses,” he said.

According to Padmanabh Baruah, the seized ganja was cultivated in Tripura and it was being taken to other parts of the country.

“According to our information, ganja is being cultivated in some parts of Tripura and it is sold in various parts of our country. In the past too, we managed to seize a big amount of ganja and arrested several persons,” Baruah said.

“The ganja supplying groups are using Karimganj as a route for their business spread in various states and we are preventing them at a large scale”, he added.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma praised Karimganj police for the successful drug bust.

“In largest seizure in a while by Assam Police. Ganja hidden under sheets of natural rubber in a truck coming from a neighbouring state on Monday. Great work, Keep it up”, he wrote on his official Twitter account.