The Anakapalli district police busted a ganja-smuggling gang allegedly linked to interstate and international peddlers with the arrest of five persons, including its kingpin, at Lankelapalem on the outskirts of Vizag on Tuesday. The gang’s kingpin, Ajmal Khan, was earlier arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly smuggling drugs there, police said.
Police caught the accused during a vehicle check and seized 213kg of ganja worth over ₹1 crore from them. While accused Ajmal Khan, Abdul Rehman, Durga Prasad, Lova Prasad and Setti Ravi Kumar have been arrested, police have launched a manhunt for two others on the run — Raja of Tamil Nadu and Syam of Odisha. Police also seized over ₹95,000 in cash, a car, a motorcycle, four mobile phones, and some key documents from the accused.
Kingpin's International Connections
According to police, Ajmal Khan of Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu, who currently lives in Narsipatnam in Anakapalli district with his family, has connections with international drug mafia. He was earlier arrested by the Sri Lanka narcotics bureau in Colombo while allegedly supplying drugs. At the time of the arrest, Sri Lankan cops had seized 495 grams of methamphetamine and 8.6 grams of hashish from Khan. He was lodged as a remand prisoner at Sri Lanka’s Boossa High Security Prison for four years, from 2022 to 2025, the Anakapalli police said. Although he was granted bail by a local court there, the Sri Lankan authorities withheld his passport. But Khan managed to enter India in a boat illegally. Interestingly, Khan attended court hearing in Sri Lanka and re-entered India, police said.
Smuggling Operations
Using his connections with a drug dealer, Raja, of Tamil Nadu, Khan and other gang members had allegedly planned to smuggle ganja from the tribal areas of Alluri Sitaramara Raju (ASR) district and Andhra-Odisha border (AOB) to Vijayawada and Chennai, police said. Anakapalli superintendent of police Tuhin Sinha said the gang used to procure the contraband with the help of a local in Gomangi village in Pedabayalu mandal of ASR district.
Recently, they tried to source ganja from Setti Ravikumar alias Nani and a local gang in Gomangi for ₹6 lakh. However, as the consignment was delayed, the accused procured ganja from Syam of Janaba in Odisha. Ajmal’s brother Sheik Abdul Rehman and Tolam Durga Prasad allegedly arranged to get the contraband delivered to AP. Another accused, K Lova Prasad, used his car to transport the ganja on Tuesday afternoon.
Arrest and Investigation
However, all five accused, including one person on a bike escorting the car, were caught when Parawada police station woman sub-inspector GSV Mahalakshmi and her team were conducting vehicle checks. With the latest arrests, the Anakapalli district police are now focused on unearthing alleged hawala money transactions and interstate drug network linked to the gang.
