Arrested persons with the seized ganja at Jakkanpur police station in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Jan. 9: A joint team of Patna and Hajipur police today seized 8.5 quintal of contraband ganja (marijuana), worth Rs 2.25 crore in the international market in two different raids.

Five persons have been arrested in connection with the seizure. Sadar Hajipur circle officer B.C. Lal, who led the raid in Vaishali district along with Raghopur police station officer-in-charge Krish Murari Singh, said: “Acting on a tip-off, we raided the house of one Jai Hind Singh in Mirpaur village under Raghopur police station at 7am and seized 4.5kg of ganja.” He said: “Thirty-nine packets of contraband ganja were seized. Jai Hind, however, managed to escape.”

Lal said in the course of investigation, the police found out that Jai Hind had a four-storeyed building behind Dayanand Girls’ High School in Jakkanpur area from where he conducted his business.

“We apprised city superintendent of police Manu Maharaj and then raided the house,” said Lal.

“We also informed Jakkanpur police station house officer Bhagwan Prasad Gupta about the operation. We reached Patna at 9am. Then, accompanied by officers from Jakkanpur police station, we raided the building. Five persons, who were employed in packing four quintals of ganja, were arrested from the top floor,” he added. The five arrested persons have been identified as Bihta resident Tapesar Sah (55), Jehanabad resident Virendra Kumar (37), Nageshwar Prasad (50), Manoj Kumar (35) and Veenit Kumar (22), all residents of Naubatpur block in Patna.

The ganja had been packed in small plastic packets for sale, the officer added.

Jakkanpur SHO Bhagwan Prasad Gupta said: “This operation would not have been successful without the help from Hajipur police. There has been an increase in demand for ganja because of the prevalent cold weather. This has led to an increased movement of contraband ganja. The seizure is one of the biggest haul in recent times by the state police.”

The police had seized 13 tonnes of contraband ganjaworth several crores of rupees and arrested 14 persons on August 6 last year.

In another raid, narcotics worth Rs 1 crore was seized on August 20, 2010. Seven persons, including a woman, were arrested in connection with the seizure. “The contraband is smuggled from Nepal. There’s a trader who arranges for the transportation of the ganja. Once the consignment reaches the state capital, it is sold from select small shops, mostly betel and tea stalls,” said Gupta. He added college students are often the main consumers of ganja.

The police are taking steps to prevent the illegal trade of ganja, the officer said.