At multiple checkpoints on the Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border near Dahod, three individuals were nabbed with a large quantity of opium worth over ₹55 lakh rupees.

With the opium worth ₹55.45 lakh, mobile phones, and vehicles, valuables worth ₹61 lakh in total were seized from the accused.

The first batch of opium was seized near the Dhavadiya inter-state checkpoint in the Jhalod taluka. The Jhalod police intercepted a vehicle traveling from Madhya Pradesh to Rajasthan at the checkpoint. 

During questioning, the police became suspicious and searched the vehicle, upon which 1,534 kilograms of opium worth ₹46,04,670 were hidden under sacks. The suspects, Nemi Chand Godara and Vinod Isarwal, residents of Jodhpur, were arrested.

The police mentioned that the vehicle originated from Lohawat, Jodhpur, and took the route through Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur. After picking up the consignment, it was heading back to Jodhpur via Jhabua and Gujarat’s Dahod, avoiding the usual route directly to Rajasthan.

A second incident took place near Dahod in the Katwara area. The police tried to stop a car coming from Madhya Pradesh to Dahod, but the driver attempted to flee. The police chased the vehicle and apprehended the driver, Santoshgiri Goswami, along with 282 kilograms of opium worth ₹8,47,350.

The vehicle in Katwara had come from Barmer, Rajasthan, and after reaching Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, to pick up the opium, it was headed to Dahod via Gujarat, intending to bypass the usual route to Rajasthan. 

This new route choice is believed to be a strategy by drug traffickers due to increased border checking in Rajasthan.

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