More than 1.5 lakh ganja plants illegally cultivated in an area of 50 acre of land at Tandarang village of Nuagarh block in Gajapati district have been destroyed by the concerned authorities.
The estimated cost of the destroyed plants is more than Rs10 crore. The drive was carried out jointly by the Excise Department sleuths and the police on the instructions of the District Collector. The Forest and Revenue Department staffs were also involved in the drive.
However, the police and the staffs of other concerned agencies had to trudge four to five kilometre on mountainous terrain to reach the spot, said sources.
It might be mentioned here that the powerful ganja mafia are using the local Adivasis in the illegal cultivation of the narcotic by paying them paltry remuneration in the dense forest areas of the district.
In the last two to three months, crores of rupees of illegal ganja cultivations have been destroyed in the district. But the rich and powerful ganja mafia has managed to elude the police dragnet. It is said that most of them reside outside the district.
Only a few innocent tribals are being nabbed during the raids. The locals demanded that if the mafia involved in the trade, who are earning crores of rupees, are tracked, the illegal ganja trade in the district would be stopped.