Hazaribag, Jan 2 (PTI) Police seized opium estimated to worth over five crore in the international market from a house in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district, a senior officer said on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off that huge quantity of contraband was stored in the house of one Kameshwar Sao, Superintendent of Police Manoj Ratan Chothe formed an SIT headed by Arif Ekdam, Deputy Superintendent of Police to verify and apprehend the culprit.

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The team conducted raid in the house of Sao on Sunday and seized 19.400 kg of opium kept hidden in a plastic bucket and Rs13 lakh cash concealed in a steel box in another room, the SP said at a press meet here.

The SP claimed that t was the biggest ever haul of opium and cash by Hazaribag Police.

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Police arrested Rudni Devi, wife of Kameshwar Sao, after registering a case against her, her husband Kameshwar Sao and their son-in-law Gyani Sao, a resident of Hapua village in Chatra district, the SP said.

The arrested woman told police that the opium was kept there by her son-in-law Gyani Sao.

Gyani and Kameshwar Sao are absconding.

The SP said search operation and raids are on in Chatra and Hazaribag districts for Gyanti and Kameshwar Sao.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)