Balasore: Excise officials Wednesday seized brown sugar worth around Rs 80 lakh and arrested three drug peddlers including the kingpin of a racket from Jaleswar area in Balasore district. Acting on a tip-off, Excise sleuths of Bhograi with the help of Central Excise, Cuttack, conducted simultaneous raids at several places in the district and seized the contraband weighing nearly 1 kg. The arrested accused have been identified as Dibakar Nayak of Baramile area under Kamarda police limits in Balasore district, Sekh Subhan Uddin of Patharpura area and Anita Barik alias Suhani Bibi.
Several other materials have been seized from the three. The officials have also seized two motorcycles from their possession. According to sources, the seized brown sugar was allegedly smuggled into Odisha from neighbouring West Bengal.