The Telangana EAGLE Force arrested a 22-year-old man aboard the Konark Express with 18.538 kg of dry ganja worth ₹9.26 lakh.Acting on specific intelligence, the Regional Narcotics Control Cell (RNCC), Railways, in coordination with the Railway Protection Force (RPF), conducted an operation on board Konark Express Train No. 11020. During the inspection, officials identified a passenger carrying two backpacks and a trolley bag under suspicious circumstances.A search of the luggage led to the seizure of 13 packets containing 18.538 kg of dry marijuana. The accused, identified as Niranjan Pradhan, 22, a sewing machine worker from Ganjam district in Odisha and employed in Surat, was taken into custody. Police also seized a mobile phone from his possession.During preliminary interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed that he was transporting the contraband from Odisha to Pune in Maharashtra on the instructions of Deepak Pradhan, a resident of Ganjam district, who is absconding. Investigators suspect the accused was acting as a carrier for an organised inter-state drug trafficking network and said efforts are under way to trace the supplier and identify other members of the syndicate.The accused, along with the seized contraband and other material evidence, has been handed over to the Government Railway Police at Nampally for registration of a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and further investigation. Published - August 07, 2026 11:30 pm IST