VISAKHAPATNAM: After Visakhapatnam has attained the dubious distinction of a ganja hub, the State police launched Operation Parivartana to end ganja cultivation in the Agency areas of the district. There has been a considerable decline in ganja smuggling following the operation.
However, of late, Vizag link has been found in the illicit ganja trade in other States. Now, reports emerged that the death of a BTech student due to drug overdose has some Vizag link. Police said that one Nagesh from Araku had supplied hashish oil to Hyderabad dealers. Lakshmipati, who has been arrested in connection with the case in Hyderabad, spilled the beans to the police.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Alluri Sitaramaraju district SP S Sateesh Kumar said there has been a 50 per cent drop in ganja cases after the Operation Parivartana. However, as only 8,000 of 16,000 acres of ganja crop has been destroyed in the Agency, ganja is still being transported from interior areas.
With Agency areas becoming part of the newly carved out Alluri district, the police can now have a more focused approach to deal with ganja smuggling, he said. The multipronged Parivartana strategy will continue in the Agency, he said, adding that the police have busted many hashish oil manufacturing units in the region.
"The possibility of making hashish oil in the Agency is less now and the seized hashish oil might have been produced before as it can be stored for six to eight months. There are still certain challenges such as infrastructure and we will build from scratch to check the ganja menace," the SP said.
It may be recalled that around 2 lakh kg of ganja was destroyed in February in the presence of the then DGP Gautam Sawang.
Ganja seized, four smugglers arrested
At least four inter-state ganja smugglers were arrested in two cases under Araku valley police station limits in Alluri Sitaramaraju district on Wednesday. Two persons from Kerala were arrested while they were boarding a bus at Araku bus station and 12 kg of ganja was seized from them.
The two accused were sent to remand. In another case, during vehicle checking at the MRO office at Araku, two persons from Delhi were arrested and 50 kg of ganja was seized from their car. Both the accused were remanded. They were shifted to the central jail in Visakhapatnam