EAGLE Force busts interstate drug racket, arrests gang leader

Hyderabad: The EAGLE Force has busted an interstate drug racket in Hyderabad. The STF team, along with the Choutuppal police, arrested five, including the gang’s alleged leader, on Thursday, November 5.

Acting on a tip-off that two couriers from Assam had come to deliver ganja at the alleged kingpin, Bhaskar Hazarika’s house in New Hafeezpet, the team caught the five men.

The arrested men, apart from Hazarika, have been identified as Ashish Kumar, Debasis Naik alias Pinku Naik, Babu Borah, and Nirmal Hazarika. As many as 24.7 kgs of ganja and seven mobile phones were seized from them.

The gang allegedly supplied contraband worth Rs 1.8 crore and is wanted in connection with ganja-related financial transactions amounting to Rs 48 lakh, said reports.

Thirty-one-year-old Hazarika came to Hyderabad from Assam in 2014. Over the years, he worked as a security guard and a delivery guy before getting into the drug supply.

Beginning 2020, Hazarika allegedly procured ganja from Odisha and sold it in small quantities. According to News Meter, he was caught in two cases in Madhapur and one in Gachibowli, but he got out on bail and then changed his modus operandi.

Kingpin built network with aides from Assam

The report said he got his aides from his hometown and built a network. He would buy ganja from alleged Odisha suppliers, Ashish Kumar, Debasis Naik, and Babu Borah at Rs 12,000-15,000 per kg.

He would then divide it into smaller packets and sell each for Rs 300, making Rs 45,000-50,000 per kg. The report said Hazarika sold about 400 kg ganja, earning over Rs 1.8 crore in ten months.

Bank records showed Rs 48 lakh were transferred to Ashish Kumar alone.

The report said that the Choutuppal police had caught two men with over 20 kgs of ganja in August. Interrogating them revealed Hazarika’s name, but he was on the run.

The Deccan Chronicle quoted the EAGLE Force director Sandeep Shandilya as saying the team had been tracking Hazarika’s movements not only in Telangana but also in Odisha, Assam, and other
states.

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