Bhubaneswar, Oct. 25: A 26-year-old girl from Bengal and her associate were arrested while transporting ganja weighing around 35kg near Pandara on the city outskirts this evening.

The cops arrested Neha Haldar and her associate Prasant Sahoo, 28, while they were transporting the contraband in three airbags on the Puri bypass road.

"We found them walking along the road with the airbags in their hands when we were patrolling. We offered them a lift, but their behaviour raised our suspicions. When we asked them to open the airbags, the girl started arguing with us and said the bags contained clothes. When we forced them to open them, we found the ganja," said a police official.

Further investigation revealed that the accused used to procure the contraband from Koraput and sell it to ganja peddlers in various parts of the state capital.

"The accused told us that they were members of a gang that has at least 10 members, including girls from Bihar and Bengal. They have been involved in ganja smuggling for a year. The gang uses the girls as shields to avoid suspicion," said a police official.

The cops also said the arrested girl was one of a 10-member gang that was busted in December last year.

The gang members were nabbed on the basis of a complaint filed by a Kalahandi-based businessman who was robbed off Rs 51,000 cash and other valuables after being lured by one of the woman in the gang.

"One of the girl members had lured the businessman to Bhubaneswar from where the gang members forcefully took him to Naharkanta on the city outskirts. They robbed him of money and other valuables by threatening to lodge a case of molestation against him," said a police official.

In November last year, the Khandagiri police had arrested two persons, including a woman, and seized ganja weighing around 30kg when they were leaving the Baramunda bus terminal.