PRAYAGRAJ, Nov. 5 -- Nine alleged ganja (marijuana) smugglers were arrested and 16.758 kg of the contraband seized during a district-wide crackdown launched by Kaushambi police under Operation Savera on Tuesday. Police teams from six police stations - Manjhanpur, Sarai Akil, Charwa, Pipri, Sandeepan Ghat and Kokhraj - conducted checking drives at different locations and arrested the accused. Six cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act were registered in connection with the seizures. According to SP Satyanarayan Prajapat, the operation was conducted on the directions of the police headquarters in Lucknow. The drive was carried out under his supervision to check the illegal sale and smuggling of narcotic substances. Manjhanpur police arrested Suraj Maurya, a resident of the Pal Chauraha area, with 1.296 kg of ganja. Sarai Akil police arrested Sunil Pal alias Sipahi Lal Pal and Vijay Maurya, both residents of Hashimpur Kinar village, and seized 4 kg of ganja from them. Charwa police arrested Anupam Kumar Mishra, a resident of Kadipur in Manjhanpur, with 1.300 kg of ganja, while Sandeepan Ghat police arrested Devesh Tripathi of Jathi village with 1.065 kg of the contraband. Kokhraj police made the biggest seizure, recovering 7.077 kg of ganja from two accused. The remaining arrests were made by the other police teams during the checking drive. The nine arrested have been identified as Suraj Maurya, Sunil Pal alias Sipahi Lal Pal, Vijay Maurya, Anupam Kumar Mishra, Anurag Tripathi, Rahul Kumar Pandey alias Rohit, Devesh Tripathi, Shivam Kesharwani and Nitesh Kumar, the SP shared. Police said two of the arrested accused had criminal records. Anurag Tripathi had a case registered against him at Kokhraj police station in 2022 on charges including assault, abuse, trespassing and criminal intimidation. Shivam Kesharwani also had a case registered at Kokhraj police station in 2026 under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)....