Three arrested with 62 kg of opium worth Rs 20 lakh

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Three people including a woman carrying 62 kg of opium have been arrested by the Ranchi Police on Friday. "Three people travelling in a car from Odisha have been arrested with 62 kg of opium," Ashutosh Shekhar, Rural Superintendent of Police, Ranchi, told reporters here on Friday.

"The police had set up checkpoints to search vehicles. At Tamar, a speeding driver of a Maruti car crossed the barrier without stopping." After a police chase for nearly a kilometre, the vehicle was intercepted. All three were apprehended and the opium was found in the back of the car. The market value of the opium is estimated to be Rs 20 lakh.

During interrogation, they admitted that they were taking the opium from Odisha to Dhanbad district in Jharkhand. Two of the arrested persons have been identified as Tanveer Aalam and Asig Iqbal of Doranada area in Ranchi while the woman is their relative.

In another incident, six people, including three women, were arrested with 14 kg opium worth Rs 16 lakh in Jharkhand's Giridih district on Wednesday, police said.

The accused, who were going to Punjab, were arrested outside Parasnath Railway Station in a joint operation by the Giridih police and the Anti Terror Squad of the state.

All the arrested are residents of Chatra district.

With inputs from IANS

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