Sri Vijaya Puram, Oct. 14: Police seized 13.135 kg of suspected ganja from an unregistered wooden engine dinghy near North Bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on October 12 and arrested two men accused of transporting the contraband to another island. The seizure also led to the confiscation of the yellow dinghy under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
The accused have been identified as Raju Golder, 39, a resident of Rabindra Nagar in Little Andaman, and CH Prabhas, 37, a resident of Panighat. Police registered the case under Sections 20(b)(ii)B and 29 of the NDPS Act.
According to the report filed by Bambooflat police station, the operation began after Station House Officer S Kannan received information about an unregistered engine dinghy anchored suspiciously near the North Bay shore, with two people allegedly involved in illegal activity.
A police team comprising personnel from Bambooflat police station and the Police Marine Force reached the area and located the yellow wooden dinghy. Officers reported that the two occupants began moving items inside the vessel when they noticed the police boat. During an initial inspection, personnel found a white plastic gunny bag containing brown tape-wrapped parcels. One parcel contained a substance that the occupants allegedly identified as ganja intended for transportation to another island.
Following the initial recovery, the police informed Bambooflat Sub-Divisional Police Officer Deependra Kumar and received instructions to form a raiding team, involve an Executive Magistrate and initiate legal proceedings. Executive Magistrate Pintu Kumar and two independent witnesses, MK Sundaram, a former Zilla Parishad member from Nayabasthi, and Bala Krishna, the Shorepoint Gram Panchayat pradhan, subsequently joined the team.
Police brought the dinghy and its occupants to the North Bay floating jetty because rough sea conditions made the initial location unsuitable for completing the procedure. The officers informed both men of their legal right to request another gazetted officer during the search. Both agreed to the search in the presence of the Executive Magistrate and declined to search the police personnel.
The subsequent search recovered 13 packets wrapped in brown tape from the gunny bag. Police said the contents were examined in the presence of the magistrate and independent witnesses, and a drug detection kit confirmed the substance as ganja.
Officers weighed the packets individually near the shoreline after strong winds and water turbulence made weighing on the floating jetty difficult. The packets weighed between 970 grams and 1.035 kg each, bringing the total recorded weight to 13.135 kg.
Police resealed the seized substance in the same gunny bag using a brass seal marked “SK” and seized the dinghy through a panchnama. The team documented the procedure through photographs and video recordings using the E-Sakshya application.
After completing the seizure formalities, police arrested both men and returned to Bambooflat police station with the accused, the recovered substance and case documents. Officers deposited the seized material in the station property room, while personnel guarded the dinghy at North Bay Beach.
The investigation concerns alleged offences under the NDPS Act relating to possession and transportation of ganja. The allegations against both accused remain subject to legal proceedings.
