TADA to be invoked against ganja smugglers

RAJAHMUNDRY: Smuggling of ganja from the Agency areas of East Godavari  district has been posing a challenge to the police for years. Law enforcement authorities, off and on, seize the narcotic and arrest a few smugglers but smuggling has not abated.Moreover, the area has become a hub of ganja smuggling thanks to political patronage.The death of a ganja smuggler in police firing ay Y.Ramavaram village on Monday has created a stir. Ganja smugglers, who used to pay monthly mamools to some policemen, are now using weapons to eliminate law enforcers.This diabolical thinking on the part of smugglers has jolted the police department which is now thinking of registering cases against ganja smugglers under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).The annual consumption of ganja in the district is believed to be about 700 kg but four times of that quantity is smuggled on an average.Police seized 4,500 kg of ganja worth Rs 2 crore last year.  Low-grade ganja costs anywhere between  Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 per kilo and the high-grade stuff about Rs 10,000.Ganja or cannabis plants are grown in hundreds of acres on the other side of Sileru river in Odisha where there is no proper police monitoring due to Maoist movement. The incidence of ganja smuggling is high in Donkarayi mandal and in the catchment area of Sileru river.Smugglers transport ganja by country boats to Donkarayi and from there to Maredumilli and Rampachodavaram, and, through the deep forest, to Palagadda and Marrigudala. Because of road access to Chhattisgarh, smugglers find it easy to transport the contraband to that state and from there to Hyderabad and other parts of the state.In addition to Donkarayi, Sitanagaram, Devipatnam, Jaggampeta and Gandepalli mandals have also become the nerve-centres of ganja smuggling and business.Deputy inspector-general of police (Eluru Range) G Suryaprakasa Rao told reporters on Tuesday that the department would intensify its crackdown on ganja smuggling in the Agency area. In Monday’s encounter,a ganja smuggler died but not the car driver, he clarified.