By DC Correspondent
Copyright deccanchronicle
Hyderabad: The Government Railway Police along with Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) and Rapid Action Force (RPF) arrested an agricultural labourer for transporting ganja from Visakhapatnam to Thane in Maharashtra. The arrested person has been identified as Poojari Shiva (20) of Bondam village at Araku valley in Alluri Sita Rama Raju district of Andhra Pradesh. Two more persons – Vijay Chandra alias Rolex of Andhra Pradesh and Ashish Kumar of Odisha were absconding, the police said. Shiva stayed at his sister’s house in Kancharapalem, where he came in contact with Vijay Chandra, who was engaged in ganja business. Tempted by the offer of Rs.5,000 per trip, Shiva agreed to transport ganja. In 2024, he along with Vijay Chandra and some others transported ganja from Visakhapatnam to Kalyan, Mumbai and on subsequent occasions delivered it to different persons there. Again, in August 2025, they carried ganja to Kalyan Paatki area and handed it over to some women. Accordingly, on September 13, 2025, Vijay Chandra instructed him to transport ganja to Thane, but the plan was cancelled. Four days later, he was again directed to carry ganja. At Visakhapatnam Railway Station, two women gave him a trolley suitcase and a backpack containing about 22 kgs of ganja in 10 packets. He boarded the Visakha Express to Secunderabad, planning to reach Thane to hand over the same to Ashish Kumar. He reached Secunderabad Railway Station and was waiting to board Konark Express to reach Thane when the police checked his bags and found the contraband. The police seized 21.443 kgs of dry ganja worth Rs.10.72 lakh, a mobile phone and a journey ticket from the possession of Shiva, the police said.
