Following a joint raid of the excise and police personnel, 7.23 lakh of hemp plants worth ` 72.30 crore were destroyed in rural areas of Kahndamal district.
The raids were undertaken in Kakendri and Billabadi villages under Khajripada block and along the bank of river Bagha in Phringia block.
On the direction of the Chief Secretary to identify and destroy illegal cannabis cultivation in the district, a Multi-Disciplinary Coordination Committee (MDCC) was formed in October, 2012 comprising senior officials of Excise, Revenue, Forest and Police departments.
So far, the committee has conducted eight raids and destroyed 10.27 lakhs of hemp plants valued at about ` 102.27 crore. More raids will be conducted in future, said Excise Superintendent SS Gantayat.