In a bizarre attempt to evade arrest, a 40-year-old man in Thrissur allegedly tried to hide a packet of ganja inside a boiling pressure cooker full of rice while police raided his house on Saturday.

The incident took place during a afternoon narcotics operation at the residence of the accused, identified as Bineesh, a resident of Aduputty near Kunnamkulam.

Acting on a tip-off that contraband was being stored on the premises, a team from the Kunnamkulam police station arrived to conduct a search. Spotting the police approach, Bineesh reportedly scrambled to conceal a plastic packet containing 401 grams of ganja by shoving it directly into the pressure cooker on the stove, where rice was actively cooking.

Initially, the police team thoroughly combed the house but came up empty-handed. However, their breakthrough came from an unusual source: as the pressure cooker kept whistling, the officers noticed a distinct smell of ganja filling the kitchen.

Suspicious, the officers took the cooker off the flame, safely vented the steam, and opened the lid. Buried inside the cooked rice, they discovered the concealed packet of narcotics.

According to officials, Bineesh has a prior history of drug peddling and faces multiple criminal charges. He was taken into custody, and a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been officially registered at the Kunnamkulam police station. An investigation into the matter is ongoing. (PTI)