Phulbani, March 31: The Baliguda police on Sunday recovered a huge cache of cannabis from the forest near Musukuli village.
Apart from the ganja, two country-made guns were seized from the spot.
The seized contraband was valued at worth Rs 1.5 crore, which was reportedly being amassed for smuggling in a large scale.
Police sources said, tough patrolling ahead of the general election was being undertaken by the Baliguda PS last night. Meanwhile, the PCR team was informed regarding a dump of ganja in the forest.
Acting on the tip-off, a police team raided the specified place and seized more than 16 quintals of ganja and two country-made guns. However, ganja smugglers fled the site before the raid.
Preliminary investigation revealed that a syndicate was planning to collect truck-load of ganja from across the district, store in the forest and smuggle it out conveniently.
Further investigation into the matter is underway to unearth the thread of smugglers, said police.
