Effective strategy must to end ganja trafficking

Kothagudem/Jagtial: Elimination of ganja cultivation from the state has become a complicated issue as drug peddlers from other states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan were involved in the trade.

Talking to Hans India, a senior police official from Telangana said there is a little impact unless steps were taken to eliminate the cultivation of ganja from its source of origin and for this there is a need for the Union Home Ministry, Forest and Tribal Welfare Ministries to pitch in. The reason is that the inflow of ganja into Telangana originates from Andhra-Odisha border (AOB) zone. This was found during the interrogation of the accused who were arrested while transporting ganja.

They said, "There is a regular sharing of intelligence among the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan as part of the crime prevention, but still the peddlers were finding new ways," the official added. The drug peddlers configure multiple transit points and supply lines.

On Friday, the police and excise teams of Bhadradri-Kothagudem confiscated 350 kg ganja worth Rs 21 lakh and arrested three persons in Yellandu area of the district. According to the police, the ganja was being transported from Bhadrachalam to Hyderabad.

In a bid to escape, the miscreants tried to jump the barricades put up by the police injuring an excise constable. They were trying to smuggle ganja to Hyderabad.

The car they were travelling hit an electric pole near a railway bridge. Yellandu DSP Ramana Murthy said the excise officials and the police confiscated 70 packets of ganja totalling 5 Kg.

It is the second such attempt to illegally transport ganja within two days into Telangana. On February 1, the police busted a gang transporting 70 kg ganja from Visakhapatnam to Rajasthan.

Speaking to Hans India, District Superintendent of Police A Bhaskar said that three persons from Mahabubabad and one from Rajasthan were arrested while the banned substance was being transported in a private ambulance to Rajasthan at Sarangapur. The accused were reportedly trying to reach the national highway via Kamareddy, Adilabad to Nagpur to reach Rajasthan.

On January 14, two drug peddlers were arrested, and 1,700 grams of ganja was seized by the police at Adibhatla. They were arrested while trying to sell ganja near Kurmalguda under Adibhatla police station. The duo had reportedly brought the substance from Paderu area of Andhra Pradesh.

Similarly, on January 25, the Burgampahad police seized ganja worth Rs 53 lakh in Kothagudem district while checking vehicles at Morampally Banjara village.