Post News Network
Khurda, June 27: The smuggling of intoxicants like marijuana in Bhubaneswar-bound night buses is on the rise.
A racket involved in transporting drugs to Bhubaneswar, Puri and Khurda is using perfume in the buses to dissuade sniffers from the product.According to sources, night buses coming from Patna and Bhagalpur in Bihar and southern districts like Phulbani, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Koraput, Boudh, Malkangiri and Chitrakonda transport drugs and then reach Puri, Bhubaneswar and Khurda where it is sold to betel shops and slums.
In the tribal belt of Malkangiri, ganja farming is rampant and the product fetches a very high price in the market. Drugs sellers employ tribal youth and women in farming by offering attractive remuneration.
Local excise officials and police also help the racket thrive. They raid smaller consignments in a few buses at random in a bid to cover up bulk supplies being smuggled out of the district. They arrest petty smugglers and local youth symbolically while ignoring real culprits.
Once arrested it becomes difficult for the accused to obtain bail. Getting bail for drug offenders is difficult, say sources. In order to evade roving eyes of patrolling police in Bhubaneswar, drug suppliers drop contraband on the outskirts of the city like Tamando, Begunia and Baghamari as per plan sell the drugs to the buyers there.
When asked about the transaction, Khurda mobile inspector Sharat Chandra Banja said private bus owners are the key supporters who should be booked first.
Khurda Excise inspector Sapna Pradhan told this paper reports against bus owners often come to them. June 21 and June 25 They had raided two buses June 21 and June 25 and seized ganja.
