KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, August 7: A tempo laden with 800 kgs postu (poppy seeds) was seized during an anti-crime checking under Kapali thana outpost in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district near Jamshedpur.
The consignment of the postu which was estimated at over Rs 10 lakhs was seized at Pudisili where the police were carrying out the checking.
Revealing the breakthrough, Chandil sub-divisional police officer, Sanjay Singh said at the sight of the tempo, the police officials at the checking point had waived the tempo driver to stop the vehicle, but the latter tried to evade the checking by expediting the vehicle’s speed, arousing suspicion. He said then only the police chased the vehicle and seized it.
“On checking the driver of the tempo failed to produce any paper relating to the consignment which was being carried from Bundu. Then only the police took the driver Santosh Singh and the vehicle owner Nilesh Singh in custody, ” the SDPO said while talking to newsmen on Monday afternoon.
According to the police officer, both Nilesh and Santosh are originally residents of Chatra district but they would carry out a racket of smuggling postu from places like Bundu, Chatra and Tamar to sell in Jamshedpur market by staying in rented accommodation in Bhuiyandih in the steel city.
Postu is a byproduct of opium which is produced during the processing of poppy flowers. The seizure of such a huge quantity of postu only reflects that large-scale poppy cultivation must be going on in the region.
