Rachakonda Police Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu, officials from the LB Nagar Special Operations Team (SOT) and the Hayathnagar police with the accused and the seized material in Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement
Four men from Maharashtra were arrested by the Special Operations Team (SOT) of the LB Nagar Zone and the Hayathnagar police for smuggling 166 kilograms of ganja worth ₹50 lakh through Hyderabad.
The accused were identified as Vikas Baban Salve, 30, a painter from Sangamner, Ahmednagar; Ranganath Yurajn Sadve, 36 and Amol Narayan Borde, 26, both farmers from Aurangabad; and Sagar Gajanan Khandebharad, 29, a Railway employee from Buldhana. Amol was driving the goods carrier vehicle used in the smuggling operation.
According to police, Vikas was the main link to the supply source. Struggling financially, he came into contact with a man known as Maik alias Rahul alias Dass, a resident of Kurumanur village in Kalimela tehsil of Odisha’s Malkangiri district. Observing the strong demand for ganja among labourers in Maharashtra, Vikas decided to capitalise on it and roped in his three acquaintances to assist in the operation, promising quick profits.
On June 19, the group travelled to Odisha, procured the ganja from Maik, and began their return journey. However, acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted their vehicle on Friday and took all four into custody. Alongside the ganja, officials recovered four mobile phones and ₹6,200 in cash.
Police investigations revealed that Vikas is already facing a non-bailable warrant in an earlier ganja case registered by Alair police, while Ranganath has a pending warrant in an Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case in Badrachalam dating back two years. Efforts are underway to trace the main supplier, Maik.
Published – June 20, 2025 06:56 pm IST
