Ganja peddling racket busted

Cyberabad SOT busted a ganja smuggling gang that targeted workers in the Katedan industrial area and were supplying drugs to them.

The three-member gang including one Rahul Sharma, a habitual criminal, procured ganja from Odishabased peddlers.

Police seized six kilos of the drug from them.

Police said that Rahul Sharma hailing from Uttar Pradesh shifted to Hyderabad a couple of years ago searching for a job. He joined as a daily wage labourer at one of the companies in Katedan. Meanwhile, he came into contact with friends Vijay and Madhu, who were also working as daily wage labourers. As their earnings were not enough they planned to sell ganja by procuring it from suppliers in Odisha., police said.

The gang targeted only daily wage labourers hailing from UP and other north Indian states working in the Katedan industrial area and sold ganja to them in small sachets.

Three months ago, they rented a house in Madhuban colony for a rent of `2,000 per month and started operating from there. They used this room as a store for keeping ganja and distributed it to users in the surroundings, police said.

After receiving a tip off, the Special Operations Team raided the house, detained Rahul and seized ganja from him.

Rahul is a habitual criminal and was arrested in a robbery in Mailardevpally in 2016 where he opened fire at an employee of SBI's Geosansar Utility Centre, when he visited to transfer money to his friend. He was later released on bail, Mailardevpally inspector P. Jagadeeshwar said.

Rahul was remanded and a hunt is on for other members of the gang.

THE GANG targeted only daily wage labourers hailing from UP and other north Indian states working in the Katedan industrial area, and sold ganja to them in small sachets