Tiruchi/Madurai: After a cinema-style 13 km car chase, police today seized 176 kg of ganja meant to be distributed within the State with an estimated value of over Rs 22 lakh.
Police sources said the Narcotics Intelligence Bureau (NIB) CID unit received information that gang was involved in ganja smuggling from Andhra to several parts of the State and sold it to college and school students near academic institutions. Following this, they set up a special team to apprehend the smugglers.
Recently, the team received information that a fresh batch of ganja was to be smuggled by road from Andhra to Madurai and also found the mobile number of one of the smugglers. The police tapped the phone and discovered that the smugglers’ car would start from Ananthapur in Andhra Pradesh and head to Madurai via Tiruchi. Armed with the fresh piece intelligence, the police alerted all checkpoints and toll booths along the route.
When the smugglers’ car was near Samayapuram checkpoint near Tiruchi, the police tried to apprehend them. But somehow they managed to break through the barriers and sped away. A 13-km high speed car chase between police and the smugglers ensued in which a police car rammed the smugglers’ vehicle bringing it to a halt. While one smuggler managed to escape, the police nabbed the driver.
Enquiries revealed that the driver, Sathya Narayana Reddy (28) hails from Ananthapur and he was paid Rs 40,000 for every ganja delivery he makes from Andhra Pradesh to Tamilnadu. Sathya Narayana admitted to his crime and said he did not question anyone as the payment was huge. The special team of NIB-CID unit has now set up camp in Madurai to catch the smuggler who escaped to unravel the wide ganja smuggling network in the State.