Police Seize over Rs 10 Lakh Worth Contraband, Arrest Eight Persons

 Hyderabad: Police on Tuesday seized 1.12 litres of hashish oil worth about Rs 7.84 lakh and six kilograms of dry ganja valued at around Rs 3 lakh during the operation and arrested eight persons during a raid at a room near the Medchal railway station. The raid was conducted by the Qutubullapur SOT and the Medchal police and the eight arrested include two alleged drug peddlers and six consumers — some reportedly linked to the Mallareddy University.

Police identified the arrested peddlers as – Akula Mithra Chaitanya, 21, and Mukkisa Shushanth Reddy, 20, BTech students at a private university. They were allegedly involved in an NDPS case at the Peddapalli police station in 2023, police said.

The consumers include BTech students at the university and outsiders working with coaching centres and student hostels. Four other peddlers – Sai Charan, Shahi alias Browny, Charan Teja and Trinesh – are absconding, police said.

According to the police, the raid was carried out following credible information about the contraband being stored and distributed from the premises. “The racket involved a group of six habitual peddlers who pooled money to procure ganja and hashish oil and decided to share the contraband equally,” the police said.

The police said that on January 2, Chaithanya, Browny, Charan Teja and Sai Charan travelled to Vijayawada on two two-wheelers. Sunny and Shashi stopped at Vijayawada, while Charan Teja and Sai Charan went ahead and procured 8 kg of ganja and 1.2 litres of hashish oil.

After returning to Hyderabad, the group informed their associates and asked Shushanth Reddy to arrange a location for distribution. Police said Shushanth arranged a room belonging to a friend who had gone to his native place for Sankranti holidays, as the keys were easily accessible.

Before the raid, Trinesh, another alleged peddler, had taken two kilograms of ganja and left for his native place. When the police team raided the place, drugs were found to be sold to six consumers. Police are working on identifying the rest of the consumers. Chaithanya and Mukkisa Shushanth Reddy were taken into custody. A case has been registered against the peddlers.

The Medchal police said that blood and urine samples of all the six consumers have been taken and a list of other consumers from inside and outside the university is being furnished. The police confirmed that none of the persons involved were minors. Further investigation into the incident is underway.