Rajkot: City crime branch seized 22kg of ganja, worth Rs 10.94 lakh, from an Eicher truck near Bamanbor village on the Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway and arrested three men. The contraband was concealed beneath sacks of groundnut.The three men arrested are Farid Baloch (27), Mehbub Dodhiya (58) and Hasmukh Agrawat (46), all residents of Gondal. Police seized the truck, the ganja, the sacks of groundnut, mobile phones and cash, collectively worth Rs 27.72 lakh. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against five persons.Crime branch inspector M L Damor told TOI that on Oct 30, PSI S M Rana received a tip-off that three persons were transporting ganja from Ahmedabad towards Rajkot in a white Eicher truck. A team then laid a trap in the Airport police station jurisdiction.Around 12.30pm, the team intercepted the truck (GJ06AV3000) approaching from Chotila. A search initially revealed sacks of groundnut. On removing them, police found plastic bags containing plant material, including stems and leaves. FSL officials were called to examine the substance.During questioning, Mehbub and Hasmukh allegedly told police that Javid Makrani and Salman Baloch, both from Gondal, had arranged the consignment at a Kathiyawadi hotel in Vyara. They allegedly promised the trio Rs 30,000 per trip. Javid’s associate was supposed to collect the consignment near the Gondal APMC market yard, investigating officer B B Jadeja said.
