Bhubaneswar, Nov 17: Police in Odisha's Jajpur district have busted a brown sugar smuggling operation, leading to the arrest of three individuals, including a dentist. Nigamananda Khatua, the alleged mastermind, along with Sandip Kumar Mallick and Ratnakar Dixit, both residents of Sundarimuhan and Siddheswar in the district, respectively, are the accused.

Khatua, who operates a clinic in Mahaveer Chhak in Jajpur town, was identified as the key figure in the smuggling racket. Acting on a tip-off, a team from Jajpur town police conducted a raid near Sundari Muhan Chhak in the district headquarters town, apprehending Mallick and Dixit during the sale of the contraband.

The police confiscated 25.02 grams of brown sugar, with an estimated market value of around Rs 2.5 lakh, from the possession of the two individuals. Subsequently, during interrogation, Mallick and Dixit disclosed that Dr. Khatua supplied the banned substance for their sale. Following this revelation, the dentist was arrested on Thursday.

The involvement of the dentist in the drug smuggling racket was uncovered after the arrest of the two peddlers, as stated by Jajpur SDPO Satyabrat Lenka. Lenka commented, "The dentist was the kingpin of the drug-trafficking network, while the duo used to trade in brown sugar in the area. The doctor procured the drugs and supplied those to the peddlers in small quantities."

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