Koraput: Police on Wednesday night arrested the mastermind behind an inter-state ganja-smuggling racket from Jeypore, nearly eight months after launching a manhunt for him.

The police said they were tipped off that K. Balaji Krishna, 48, was at one of his relative's home at Jeypore's New Street and, accordingly, chalked out a plan to nab him.

"He was in our wanted list for running the racket. He operated a well-knit inter-state gang and had been in this trade for the past 25 years," said Koraput police superintendent Kanwar Vishal Singh.

The cops also seized a Hyundai Creta car, three mobile phones and Rs 7.20 lakh in cash from Krishna.

The police said his network was spread across Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharasthra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Bengal, and several districts in Odisha.

"He procured the ganja from Lamatapur in Koraput and Chitrakonda in Malkangiri district and supplied it to ganja mafia in and outside the state," said Jeypore Sadar police station inspector-in-charge Nirmal Mohapatra.

Krishna was arrested in 1995 on ganja smuggling charges and sentenced to three years in prison in 2000. However, he had appealed against the lower court verdict in Orissa High Court and the case is sub-judice.

"The police arrested eight members of his gang in July 2017 with three cars while transporting 76kg ganja near Gurudaguda. Since then, we have been tracking Krishna," said Mohapatra.

"We are verifying whether he has any cases in other states," he added.