Four from Maharashtra held in Hyderabad with 166 kgs of ganja sourced from Odisha
Hyderabad: The Special Operations Team (SOT) of LB Nagar Zone, along with Hayath Nagar police, have busted an interstate ganja trafficking racket and arrested four men while seizing 166 kilograms of dry ganja valued at Rs. 50 lakhs. The case has been registered at Hayath Nagar Police Station, Rachakonda.
The accused have been identified as Vikas Baban Salve, 30, a painter from Sangamner, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra; Ranganath Yurajn Sadve, 36, an agriculturist from Aurangabad, Maharashtra; Sagar Gajanan Khandebharad, 29, a Central Government railway employee from Buldhana, Maharashtra; and Amol Narayan Borde, 26, an agriculturist from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, who was driving the vehicle.
According to police, Vikas Salve, who is already wanted in a previous NDPS case with a non-bailable warrant pending for over a year, became acquainted with a main source identified as Maik @ Rahul @ Dass from Odisha. Struggling to meet his financial needs, Vikas hatched a plan to traffic ganja sourced from Odisha through Hyderabad and supply it to buyers in Maharashtra.
He involved his friends Sagar, Ranganath, and Amol in the operation, promising them high profits. Sagar, despite being a government railway employee, joined the racket for easy money. On June 20, 2025, acting on a tip-off, the SOT and Hayath Nagar police stopped a Force Trax Cruiser near Dhananjaya Function Hall, Hayath Nagar, and apprehended the four accused.
They seized 166 kilograms of dry ganja, four mobile phones, cash amounting to Rs. 6,200, and the vehicle used in the operation. The total value of the seized contraband and assets is estimated at Rs. 65 lakhs.
Further investigations revealed that the gang procured the ganja from Rahul in Kurumanur, Malkangiri district, Odisha. Efforts are underway to trace and arrest Rahul, who remains absconding. Police are also verifying the past criminal records of the arrested men, noting that Ranganath too has a pending non-bailable warrant in an NDPS case.
The Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda, G. Sudheer Babu, along with DCP LB Nagar Ch. Praveen Kumar and Additional DCP Md. Shakir Hussain, supervised the operation. They praised the efforts of the SOT LB Nagar Zone and Hayath Nagar police for their continued commitment to curbing drug trafficking and ensuring community safety.
Rachakonda Police reiterated that combating the drug menace through strict enforcement and awareness campaigns remains a priority. They appealed to the public to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in eliminating drug trafficking and abuse from society.
