The Covid wave has not deterred ganja smugglers from carrying on with their covert operation. Rather it has opened new avenues for them to keep their illegal trade thriving.
Jeypore Sadar police led by IIC Aditya Mahakur is successful in seizing a total of 16 tonne of ganja whose market value is more than Rs 16 crore in last two years. The police have registered 42 cases and arrested 131 persons in various cases of seizure of ganja in the district.
While 37 culprits are absconding, the police have seized cash of Rs 20,39, 869 during raids, apart from 18 trucks, 17 motor cycles, two containers, 19 cars ,11 Bolero jeeps, one pistol, three live bullets and 26 mobiles. With DGP Abhay making it clear that action against drug trafficking remains a top priority of the Odisha Police, the district police have intensified crackdown against the ganja mafia in the region in recent months.
SP Varun Guntupalli said, “The Koraput police are always alert to maintain law and order. Our men in uniforms are always carrying out surprise raids and regular checkups in the bordering areas and also inside the district to rein in the ganja smugglers.”
Jeypore SDPO Arup Avhisek said many ganja traffickers transporting cannabis from Koraput, Machkund, Malkangiri and Chitrokonda pockets to different parts of the State and outside. But many of them have been caught red-handed.
Jeypore Sadar PS IIC Aditya Mahakur said efforts were underway to identify the smugglers involved in the crime and nab them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Amid the massive crackdown on ganja cultivation and smuggling in Koraput district, the Jeypore police are now faced with a peculiar problem.
There is an acute shortage of space both in court malkhana and police station premises to accommodate the seizures made under the NDPS Act In the last few years, Koraput has become the most preferred destination for ganja peddlers from across the country.
More than 100 of ganja smugglers belonging to Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana have been lodged in Jeypore and Koraput jails in the last one and a half years However, the police are now finding it difficult to get proper space to store the seized contraband.
While the police stations of Jeypore Town and Sadar are already overburdened, the seized ganja is now being diverted to Barinput, Gaganapur and Ambaguda outposts for storage.
Adding to the woes, the seized vehicles are being kept in the open on the side of Jeypore-Borrigumma NH which passes near the police stations for unavailability of space. Meanwhile, demands are increasing for a Narcotics Unit at Jeypore which will help the district police to break the chain of those ganja smugglers.