The Bapatla district police seized 6.940 kg of ganja and arrested a habitual offender for allegedly smuggling contraband through rail routes, District Superintendent of Police B. Umamaheswar said on Saturday (May 16, 2026).

The accused, identified as Suhaib Rehman, 30, a native of Kerala, was apprehended during joint inspections conducted by the police, Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel on trains on Friday (May 15) under the jurisdiction of Chinnaganjam police station. A case was registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act.

During interrogation, police found that the accused had allegedly purchased ganja for ₹30,000 from an unidentified person in Rayagada, Odisha, and concealed it in his travel bag. Police revealed that the accused was a repeat offender with four ganja-related cases and one assault case registered against him at Hosdurg police station in Kerala.

Addressing the media, the SP said the district police was working to make Bapatla a ganja-free district and warned stringent action against those involved in the sale, transport, or consumption of narcotics.

Mr. Umamaheswar said that in the last four months, police had registered nine cases, arrested 53 persons linked to inter-state drug networks and seized nearly 273 kg of ganja. He said special drives were being conducted at railway stations based on intelligence inputs that smugglers were increasingly using train routes. Police also recovered 29.5 kg of ganja and 70 ganja-laced chocolates targeting youth.

The SP said 647 awareness programmes had been conducted district-wide and warned that repeat offenders could face stringent action, including detention under the PD Act and externment from the district.