Two persons from Maharashtra and Karnataka were caught transporting 499 kilograms of ganja in a container lorry at Vepalagadda crossroads in Sujatha Nagar mandal of Khammam district on Monday.

Acting on credible information, CCS police along with Sujathanagar SI Rama Devi and her team stopped an Ashok Leyland container (KA38 A6754) coming from Kothagudem towards Khammam around 8 am and detained two men on suspicion.

During the inspection, police found 96 packets of ganja weighing 499 kg, valued at about Rs 2.5 crore, hidden inside the vehicle. The arrested men were identified as Jagadeesh Dayaram Patil, 37, from Jalgaon district in Maharashtra, and Sanju Kumar alias Sanjeev, 49, from Bidar district in Karnataka. Police seized the ganja packets, two mobile phones, and the container lorry used in the transport.

Investigations revealed that the ganja was procured from forest areas near Nellipaka village in Andhra Pradesh and was being transported to Jaipur in Rajasthan. Two others involved in the operation, identified as Amit Rohidas Patil from Maharashtra and Hari from Odisha, are absconding. Both the arrested accused have previous cases related to ganja smuggling.