Hyderabad: A real-life Pushparaj thought he could outsmart the system by transporting ganja across state borders in a style reminiscent of the Pushpa movie, where red sandalwood was smuggled. This time, instead of sandalwood, it was ganja, cleverly concealed inside cement bags.
In a major breakthrough, the Special Operations Team (SOT) of Maheshwaram Zone, working in close coordination with Abdullahpurmet police, intercepted a TATA Ultra truck at Kothaguda X Road on National Highway 65 in Abdullapurmet on Tuesday morning. Acting on credible intelligence, the police stopped the vehicle.
They discovered an astounding 1,210 kilograms of ganja concealed beneath stacks of cement bags, neatly wrapped and covered with tarpaulin to evade detection.
The seized narcotics are estimated to be worth Rs 6.25 crore in the illicit market. Along with the contraband, the police also took possession of the TATA Ultra truck and one mobile phone recovered from the accused.
Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu revealed that the team had cracked the carefully charted route map stretching from the dense forest regions of Malkangiri through Kalimela, Dangalam, Mothuguda, Bhadrachalam, and Khammam, eventually funneling the consignment through Hyderabad en route to Rajasthan. It was a well-established interstate chain until law enforcement struck a decisive blow.
The accused, identified as Vikram Vishnoi alias Vikas (22), driver and resident of Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, was apprehended at the spot. Investigations revealed that Vishnoi had been recruited into the racket by Devilal alias Katu (mediator), Aayub Khan (receiver), and Ramlal (vehicle owner and receiver), all from Osian Tehsil in Jodhpur district.
The trio reportedly offered him Rs 5 lakh per consignment for ferrying ganja from Odisha’s Malkangiri to Rajasthan.
According to police, Vishnoi had driven the truck with an initial shipment of iron materials from Jaipur to Nanded, Maharashtra, before traveling towards Khammam, Telangana. There, he procured cement bags to serve as a cover load for the ganja. Following orders from his handlers, he moved to Odisha’s forest-rich Malkangiri region, where local cultivators supplied the narcotics packaged in 5 kg packets, stacked beneath the cement in the truck before starting the journey toward Rajasthan.
This operation was conducted under the supervision of Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu, IPS, with guidance from ADCP Md. Shakir Hussain, ACP P. Sathaiah, and direct field leadership of Inspector T. Ravi Kumar, SOT Maheshwaram Zone, along with teams from Abdullapurmet police.
