BHUBANESWAR: Excise department has sanctioned `30 lakh to Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Crime Branch for destroying cultivation of cannabis on large tracts of land in the State.
The money was sanctioned after a multi-departmental meeting of Excise Department, STF, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), that was held a few days back to discuss about destruction of cannabis cultivation across the State.“The amount has been sanctioned to STF IG, who along with excise sleuths, forest department officers, will jointly conduct the operation to destroy cultivation of cannabis in the State,” Crime Branch ADG Santosh Kumar Upadhyay told The Express.
“I have directed the SPs and DIGs of the districts where cannabis cultivation is rampant to undertake a joint operation,” he added. The joint operation will be conducted in Angul, Rayagada, Boudh, Deogarh, Kandhamal and Malkangiri besides a few other districts, he added.There has been a rapid increase in cannabis cultivation in hilly areas of the State as demand for the weed among inter-state drug traffickers has risen considerably, said sources. According to the data of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Bhubaneswar, over 2457 acres of cannabis cultivation was destroyed in 2015-16 but that could not stop illegal practice as around cannabis on nearly 4000 acres was destroyed in 2016-17.
“About 2400 acres of cannabis cultivation in Kandhamal district, 700 acres in Rayagada district, 300 acres in Gajapati district, 100 acres in Malkangiri district, was destroyed in the 2016-17,” a NCB officer said.
Police sources said, the demand for marijuana filled cigarettes among the youth has increased with easy availability of the contraband sold under the guise of other businesses.
“Odisha is one of the largest cannabis producing states in the country. Traders from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka purchase the contraband from here and transport it to their respective states,” a police officer said. On Friday, police had arrested three persons, including two residents of Atti Nagar in Bengaluru for trading in cannabis. Police had recovered 40 kg cannabis from their possession besides `70,000.STF officers asserted that they have already destroyed about 200 acres of cannabis cultivation in Gajapati and Angul districts in 2017.Odisha Space Applications Centre (ORSAC) will provide the agencies satellite images of the lands in the State where cultivation of cannabis is being carried out.