HYDERABAD: Excise sleuths arrested four ganja peddlers , including two software engineers, and seized 9.5 kilo ganja from their possession on Wednesday. Acting on specific information, the enforcement wing of prohibition & excise department kept a watch at Site-3 in Borabanda and seized 1.15 kilo ganja from B Sai Charan Goud, 24, an engineering graduate looking for software job, and his roommate, P Srikanth, 23, a software engineer from Parvath Nagar in Borabanda . Police also seized a bike and two cell phones from their possession.“The accused were addicted to ganja and recently they started bringing the contraband from Araku in Visakha agency area in Visakhapatnam Andhra Pradesh . The accused have been selling ganja to customers at SR Nagar, Ameerpet, Banjara Hills and Madhapur for Rs 500 (25 grams) and Rs 1000 (50 grams),” assistant excise superintendent N Anji Reddy told TOI.On interrogation, the duo confessed that they had been consuming ganja for the past two years and recently ventured into peddling activity as the cost of contraband increased rapidly due to stringent crackdown by the enforcement agencies in Hyderabad.“The duo consume ganja daily. Due to crackdown by the excise department and other agencies, the price of ganja has shot up rapidly. We have information that even 25-gram packets are sometimes being sold for Rs 1,000,” Anji Reddy said.To meet their expenses, the duo decided to directly purchase ganja from farmers and sell it in the city for profit. “Through a contact, they met a supplier in Araku and purchased ganja from him by paying Rs 3,500 per kilo. They packed the purchased ganja into small packets and started selling it in Hyderabad at Rs 1000 per 50 gram,” an excise official, who arrested the duo, said.The accused, along with the seized contraband, were handed over to THE Ameerpet excise police for further investigation.In another case, the excise sleuths arrested two peddlers— Shubham Singh and Krishna Singh — at Mangalhat Market and seized 8.3 kilos of ganja from their possession. They confessed that they purchased the contraband from one Angoori Bai of Upper Dhoolpet. Angoori Bai is the aunt of Shubham Singh. The excise sleuths also seized a scooter, three cell phones, Rs 12,030 cash from the accused. The accused along with the seized ganja were handed over to Dhoolpet excise police for further investigation.