Bhadohi (UP), Mar 9 (PTI) A 32-year-old smuggler was arrested from the Gopiganj area of this Uttar Pradesh district with opium worth Rs 7 crore, a senior police officer said on Saturday.

Additional Superintendent of Police Tej Veer Singh said the police searched the bag of a man near the Gopiganj bus stand and recovered illegal opium weighing more than seven kilogrammes.

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During interrogation, the man identified himself as Najibul Haq Shaikh, a resident of Murshidabad in West Bengal. He admitted to bringing the contraband from Bihar and selling it at a higher rate, Singh said.

The opium seized is estimated to be worth more than Rs 7 crore, he added.

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The same police team also seized nine kilogrammes of ganja from a 22-year-old man in the Sarroi area. The value of the contraband is estimated at Rs 2 lakh.

A country-made pistol and cartridges were also recovered from the arrested accused, identified as Arvind Rajbhar of Varanasi district. He used to bring the ganja from Jharkhand and sell it in the district and adjoining areas, the police said.

Singh said information about the involvement of these two smugglers in other criminal incidents is being gathered.

(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)