Four held in Ranchi with 4.1kg opium

Ranchi: A police team arrested four persons and seized 4.1 kilograms of high quality opium, valued at over Rs 20 lakh, from them in a search operation conducted under the Tupudana police outpost in Ranchi on Thursday.

DIG cum Ranchi SSP Chandan Kumar Sinha said the arrested men were Ajay Murmu, Anil Marandi, Soma Purty and Salomi Topno.

"The police are conducting an investigation to ascertain the identity of people who supplied the opium and the purchasers. More arrests are likely in the future," Sinha said.

He stated, "Police received a tip that the accused persons, living in a rented house near Bermaad bridge, were involved in illegal opium trade. A team led by Hatia DSP Pramod Mishra reached the spot and intercepted Anil and Ajay while they were on a scooty. Around 2.6 kilograms of opium was found from dicky of the vehicle."

Based on inputs from Anil and Ajay, Soma and Salomi were arrested with 1.5 kg opium. "All the four were booked under section 18 (c), 22 and 25 of the NDPS Act," the SSP said.