Bhubaneswar, June 12: Excise officials seized heroin worth Rs 1.5 crore from Puri this afternoon and arrested one person in this connection.

The officials raided the residence of one Pachanan Das, 39, of Matimandap Sahi in Puri town. “He was caught red-handed while trying to escape from his residence with a bag containing around 1.5 kilogram of narcotics,” said inspector in charge of the excise intelligence bureau Amarendra Jena.

The officials also recovered Rs 51,000 in cash from Das and a case has been registered under Section 21(C) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

“After interrogation, we found that the contraband was supplied to Das from Rajasthan. We are investigating the matter,” said Jena.

But the officials made it clear that Das had no criminal antecedents and this might be the first incident of him being involved in drug peddling.

Local residents alleged that Puri had become a safe heaven for drug peddlers.

“Selling of narcotic substances, including cannabis, brown sugar and heroin, is rampant in the town. That is one of the reasons behind the spurt of criminal activities in recent times,” said Ajay Pradhan, a local resident.

On Tuesday, more than a quintal of ganja was seized by excise officials near Manguli Chhak in Cuttack district.

The officials had also arrested two persons from Bihar in connection with illegal transportation of the contraband worth Rs 6 lakh.