Warangal cops crack down on ganja smuggling
Commissionerate's Task Force arrests 51 smugglers, seizes 224 kg contraband from Jan 1 to Oct 31 this year
Warangal: The Task Force personnel of the Warangal Police Commissionerate, which has been focusing on checking ganja (marijuana) smuggling, have been successful in curbing the menace this year.
From January 1 to October 31 this year, the Task Force seized a total of 224.19 kgs of ganja worth Rs 13,58,850. While 32 cases were registered, 51 people involved in the smuggling of the contraband were arrested by the police. The Task Force police, which is comprising three teams led by three Inspectors, registered 24 case in the Central Zone, seven cases in the East Zone and one case in the West Zone under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, (NDPS Act) in Warangal Police Commissionerate limits which includes Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural and Jangaon districts. Meanwhile, in the corresponding period of the last year, the Commissionerate’s Task Force seized a whopping 879.19 kgs of ganja including three plants worth a total of Rs 76,10,950 by registering 30 cases and arresting 69 people.
In addition to this, the Task Force police in coordination with Hasanparthy police also nabbed two ganja peddlers of an Inter-State gang of ganja and seized 320 kg of processed ganja worth Rs 32 lakhs from them on November 2, 2019, alone.
People from Telangana and neighbouring Maharastra States are mainly involved in the ganja purchasing and transporting the same to Hyderabad, Warangal and other cities in Telangana, Maharastra and Uttar Pradesh States. The smugglers are mainly purchasing the ganja from the areas of the Andhra-Odisha-Border (AOB), Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts of the Andhra Pradesh at lower price and selling the same at exorbitant price in those northern States, said a police official. Since the smugglers are choosing either Khammam-Warangal highway or Eturnagaram-Warangal highway to transport the banned substance in vehicles, the Task Force teams are conducting the vehicle checks regularly and also collecting the information from the multiple sources and successfully intercepting the smuggling.
Meanwhile, Mahabubabad police have booked seven cases and seized 346 kgs of ganja under their jurisdiction this year, and the Mulugu police also seized 317 kgs of ganja this year.
Lethargic Prohibition and Excise Department: Meanwhile, the Prohibition and Excise Department (P&E), which is supposed to curb the ganja, seems to be not bothered much about the smuggling since the Task Force is active on the job of curbing the ganja. The P & E managed to seize only 67.2 kgs of dry ganja in Warangal division by arresting three peddlers in three different cases, Deputy Commissioner of the Excise Enforcement, Warangal, Suresh Rathod told ‘Telangana Today’.
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