Bastar police on Tuesday destroyed 2,235 kg of ganja valued at Rs 2.02 crore by burning it in the furnace of the NMDC plant here, officials said. The narcotic substance, seized in 61 separate cases over recent months, was disposed of in the presence of senior police and Narcotics Bureau officials at the plant premises in Jagdalpur.

According to officials, the consignment had been intercepted at various points while being smuggled from Odisha through Chhattisgarh, with most of it destined for onward transport to other states. The total value of the ganja, along with other narcotic material destroyed during the operation, came to Rs 2,02,97,560, police said.

Seized Across 61 Cases

Police records show the cannabis haul was not a single large seizure but the cumulative result of 61 cases registered over time. Officials familiar with the matter said most consignments were caught at checkpoints and during vehicle inspections along routes connecting Odisha to Chhattisgarh, a corridor that narcotics officials have flagged repeatedly as a key smuggling channel into central and northern India.

Smuggled Via Odisha Route

Sources said the bulk of the seized ganja had originated from Odisha, with traffickers using Chhattisgarh as a transit state to move the contraband further into the country. The pattern, according to police, has been observed in earlier seizures as well, prompting tighter checks along the border districts in recent months.

NMDC Furnace Used Disposal

The destruction was carried out as per the laid-down procedure, with the entire 2,235 kg lot fed into the furnace at the NMDC plant under direct supervision. Bastar Superintendent of Police Shalabh Kumar Sinha, along with departmental officers and Narcotics Control Bureau representatives, oversaw the process to ensure compliance with disposal norms.

Syrup Buried, Bottles Recycled

Alongside the ganja, 6,500 millilitres of narcotic syrup was also destroyed, buried in a pit dug specifically for the purpose, in keeping with standard disposal rules. Officials said the empty plastic bottles that had contained the syrup were separated and sent to a plastic recycling unit, in line with environmental norms rather than being discarded as waste.

NCB Guidelines Followed

Police clarified that the entire exercise, from incineration of the ganja to the burial of the syrup and recycling of plastic containers, was conducted under the framework laid out by the Narcotics Control Bureau. The step is part of a routine disposal cycle that law enforcement agencies follow once seized contraband has cleared the required legal and evidentiary processes.

SP Vows Continued Crackdown

Speaking after the destruction drive, SP Shalabh Kumar Sinha said the campaign against narcotics in the district would continue without let-up, adding that effective action would keep being taken to move society towards a drug-free environment. Police did not specify a timeline for further operations but indicated that surveillance along smuggling routes from Odisha would remain a priority.

The Tuesday operation adds to a string of similar disposal drives carried out by Bastar police in recent years, as authorities continue to grapple with cannabis trafficking through the region. With Chhattisgarh's proximity to Odisha's cannabis-growing belts, officials say sustained vigilance along inter-state routes remains central to curbing the flow of ganja into other parts of the country.

Jharkhand Cyber Criminal Arrested in Jagdalpur: Accused Wanted Across 16 States Finally Nabbed by Bastar Police

A fugitive cyber fraudster, wanted by police across 16 states, has been tracked down and arrested in Jagdalpur — a significant breakthrough in one of India's most expansive digital fraud networks.

The Arrest That Took 16 States to Make Happen

Bastar Police have arrested a Jharkhand-based cyber criminal from Jagdalpur — a man reportedly wanted in connection with fraud cases spanning 16 states across India. The arrest marks a major breakthrough in the ongoing battle against organised digital crime networks that have plagued citizens from Chhattisgarh to the northern plains.

The accused, originally from Jharkhand — a state that has become synonymous with organised cyber fraud operations — had been evading multiple state police forces for an extended period. Jagdalpur, far from his base of operations, was being used as a hideout to escape the widening law enforcement net.

How These Networks Operate

Jharkhand-based cyber fraud syndicates are not random opportunists. They are highly structured criminal enterprises.

Investigators across the country have documented how these networks are divided into distinct modules — one team handling phone calls and impersonation, another managing SIM card procurement, a third controlling bank accounts, and a fourth responsible for layering and withdrawing funds before they can be traced or frozen.

The accused typically pose as bank officials, government representatives, or insurance agents to extract OTPs, banking credentials, and personal financial information from unsuspecting victims. Once money is transferred, it is rapidly moved through multiple accounts across different states — making it extraordinarily difficult to trace.

Across coordinated operations in recent months, police across India have recovered thousands of mobile phones, hundreds of SIM cards, dozens of ATM cards, and handwritten transaction registers that serve as the offline ledgers of a very online crime.

Why Chhattisgarh Is Emerging as a Cyber Crime Hotspot

The arrest in Jagdalpur is not an isolated incident. Chhattisgarh — particularly its tribal belt — is increasingly being used by inter-state criminal networks as a base of operations and a place to lie low after crimes committed elsewhere.

Poor digital literacy, limited banking awareness, and remote geography make both local residents easy victims and local terrain a convenient refuge for operatives fleeing more active investigations in other states.

Bastar Police deserve credit for maintaining active surveillance networks that caught a suspect wanted in 16 different jurisdictions. But the arrest also raises an uncomfortable question — how many more are using Chhattisgarh's remoteness as cover?

The 16-State Trail

Being wanted across 16 states is not a small matter. It means this individual — or the network he operated within — defrauded victims in nearly half of India's states. Each complaint represents a real person who lost real money, often life savings, to a phone call or a fake link.

The national scale of this network underlines why single-state policing of cyber crime is fundamentally inadequate. What Bastar Police caught was not just one man — they caught a thread that leads to a web of fraud stretching from the Northeast to the Northwest of India.

What Happens Next

The accused will now face coordinated interrogation — likely involving cyber crime units from multiple states. His digital devices, SIM cards, and bank account records will be forensically examined to map the full structure of the network he belonged to.

Crucially, investigators will try to identify the masterminds who sit above the foot soldiers. In most Jharkhand-origin cyber fraud cases, the people arrested are operators and callers — not the architects. Finding those architects, dismantling their financing, and prosecuting them under the IT Act and IPC together is the only way to actually slow this down.

One arrest, one hideout, one fugitive caught in Jagdalpur — it matters. But the war on cyber fraud in India has barely begun.