17 held for ganja smuggling in Srikalahasti

Tirupati: Srikalahasti and Thottambedu police on Thursday arrested 17 ganja smugglers. Tirupati district SP L Subba Rayudu said police arrested the 17 from three different places including open space near Brundamma Colony, Rajeev Nagar and Peddakanaparti under Swarnamukhi river and recovered 32 kg ganja.

The SP said police investigation revealed that ganja was brought from Paderu and Araku, the main source of ganja supply, to Tirupati, which is a transit point for its sale in neighbouring States including Tamil Nadu. Special teams, formed to detect ganja smuggling, kept a constant watch at all railway stations and bus stations to crack down ganja smuggling.

The arrested were 14 people are from Srikalahasti, two from Venkatagiri and another from Paderu. SP Subba Rayudu warned that PD Act will be invoked on ganja smugglers.