Kadapa: 8-member gang involved in ganja smuggling held

Kadapa: In a major breakthrough, police arrested an eight-member gang including 3 women and seized 52 kgs weighed ganja worth Rs 1 crore and one motor cycle, a mobile phone from their possession on Rajampet- Kadapa highway in Rajampet mandal on Monday.

The accused were identified as V Venkata Rao, Lothugudda village, K Murali Krishna, Chinnagadda village of Chinthapalle mandal, Visakhapatnam district, M Lakshmi Devi, Kotha Madhavaram village, K Saroja, Kondamachupalle village of Ontimitta mandal, P Hanumanthu, Madhimadugu Bikidi village of CK Dinne mandal, K Subba Reddy, Chakrampet village of Penagaluru mandal, S Ramudu and S Lakshmi Devi, Nagirigutta area of Pulivendula town in Kadapa district.

Addressing press conference here on Monday, Superintendent of Police K K N Anburajan said among them P Venkata Rao, a prime accused in the case, was cultivating ganja from January to June in agency areas of Chinthapalli mandal for several years.

The SP said after drying up the cannabis, he used to sell it to the traders in Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra states through agents. Over 500 families growing ganja in 400 hectares in Chinthapalle mandal, he said and they are selling material to traders at Rs 800-1,000 a kg in whole sale price.

The SP narrated that the prime accused was also charging Rs 1,000-2,000 for providing piloting to traders for safely crossing the borders in Narsipatnam.