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Maoists getting arms from ganja smugglers
Highlights
Ganja smuggling in the Agency which has reached alarming proportions in terms of quantity and money, has become a convenient field for supplying arms and other materials to the Maoists.
Visakhapatnam: Ganja smuggling in the Agency which has reached alarming proportions in terms of quantity and money, has become a convenient field for supplying arms and other materials to the Maoists.
The rural police have taken it as a challenge to curb smuggling. While interrogating the smugglers, police came across one such smuggler who was supplying sophisticated arms to the Maoists in the interiors of the Agency.
Inquiries further revealed that the smugglers have also supplied sweaters, clothes and medicines to the Maoists. Admitting that the arms have gained entry into the Agency, Superintendent of Police (Vizag rural) Dr Koyya Praveen said there were four major smuggling gangs operating in the Agency and rivalry has surfaced among them with one gang hijacking the goods of another.
“Though arms have gained entry into the Agency, we have not heard of their use so far. We seized two weapons from the smugglers,” the SP said.
On the role of Maoists in ganja trade, the SP said that there was no evidence that Maoists are encouraging ganja trade but inquiries revealed that they were collecting Rs 3 per Ghunta (58 Ghuntas make one acre) through the local agricultural committee.
Stating that the ganja smuggling is the police and excise departments’ top agenda, the SP said that 29,000 kg of ganja was seized this year and 251 cases were booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) against 632 persons. It is valued at Rs 8.33 crore (Rs 2,000 per kg in the market).
Last year, 23,000 kg of ganja was seized and cases were booked against 514 persons. Six lorries, 31 cars, 17 vans, 57 motorcycles and 25 autos were seized.
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