There is no large availability of Ganja in Alluri Seetharama Raju district as before. Now, most of the cannabis plantations are located in the interior parts of Odisha, say officials. Photo Credit: File photo: KR Deepak
To further curb the transportation of ganja in the region, the city police have decided to set up more number of checkposts in different areas. All major routes and sub-routes covering Alluri Sitarama Raju and Anakapalle districts as well as Odisha will be covered. The decision was taken during a meeting with police chiefs of five districts of North Andhra region recently.
According to officials, there is no major availability of ganja in the ASR district as before. Now, most of the hemp plantations are located in the interior parts of Odisha. Smugglers from different regions are collecting ganja from their sources in Odisha and bringing it to some border areas of ASR district, which is further transported to Visakhapatnam city, finally to states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu goes. Police officials say that basically, Visakhapatnam city is being used as a transit point.
S. Routes like Kota – Pendurthi, Sabbavaram – Vepagunta and Anakapalle – Duvvada have received special attention. Not ruling out the possibility of smuggling of cannabis from Odisha via Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, checking is also being conducted covering those routes. The police have now decided to set up some more checkposts and also surprise peddlers with random checks in some sensitive areas.
Meanwhile, the city police have also decided to focus on peddlers who are targeting college going students and have initiated stringent action like enforcement of PD Act.
Commissioner of Police CM Trivikram Verma recently held a meeting where he asked the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) to form special teams and focus on educational institutions and ensure that students do not fall prey to ganja. Meanwhile, anti-drugs and anti-ganja campaign was also launched in educational institutions a few days ago.
The focus is also being on the sale of cannabis in small quantities by the hawkers. Recently, the Duvvada police caught two people smoking ganja in the open. On investigation, it was found that the ganja was sold by a vendor in Duvvada. They further found that a couple from Narsipatnam had sold the ganja to the vendor. The teams traced and arrested all the accused in the case.