Five held with 100 kg marijuana meant to be sold near educational institutions

Apart from the marijuana, the police recovered ₹10,000 cash, four country-made pistols and five mobile phones from the accused.

The Sector 20 police arrested five men in the wee hours of Friday from the DM crossing in Sector 27 for allegedly possessing contraband items worth at least ₹20 lakh. Police say they recovered 100 kg of marijuana from the accused which they allegedly smuggled into the city to sell it near educational institutions, adding that the drugs were brought in by road from Bihar via Varanasi, Jaunpur, Lucknow and Agra.

The accused had hidden the marijuana in the boot of their car and used the stepney to conceal it. (Parwaz Khan/HT File)

According to police, the five, who were travelling in a silver coloured Maruti Suzuki SX4, were apprehended following a tip-off.

“Checking was going on at the Rajnigandha crossing. We received information that the accused were carrying almost one quintal marijuana and were coming from Bihar. Accordingly, a check point was set up near the DM camp office crossing. They came in from the direction of Atta Peer and were arrested around 3.48am,” senior superintendent of police, Ajay Pal Sharma, said.

He added that the accused had hidden the drugs in the boot of their car and used the stepney to conceal them.

The SSP further said that apart from the marijuana, the police recovered ₹10,000 cash, four country-made pistols and five mobile phones. “We also seized the car they were travelling in,” the police said.

Sharma added that according to the statements of the accused, the drugs were being supplied to youngsters near educational institutions in Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. “They would target students from various colleges in Bisrakh and Noida,” the SSP said.

A case was registered against the accused under sections of the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985 and the Arms Act.

“We are working to identify more cases against the accused. Though they claim this was their first offence, we have reason to believe they have been smuggling drugs for nearly ten years,” Manoj Kumar Pant, station house officer, Sector 20 police station, said.

One of the arrested men, allegedly the leader of the gang, has been identified as Dharam Raj Kumar, said police, adding that all of them are residents of Bihar. “One of them, Rocky Kumar, was living in Bihari market in Bisrakh,” Sharma said. All five were produced before a magistrate and sent to jail.