DRIVE TO DESTROY CANNABIS PLANTATIONS SUCCEEDS

PARALAKHEMUNDI - Acting on the order of the district
collector, Mr DV Swamy, the excise department staff, along with
support of the police launched a massive drive to destroy cannabis
plantations in the Mohona block of Gajapati. The drive has been
successful and the police and the excise department have managed to
destroy 58,800 plants of various sizes, the cost of which is stated to
be around Rs 1.5 crore in the market.

According to the excise department sources, the raids were conducted
from early morning and it took more than eight labourers to cut down
the cannabis, trees most of them in the full grown stage.

The excise department staff, numbering around 30 along with two
platoons of armed police force were involved in this massive
destruction exercise. The raids were conducted in the villages of
Murdamulli, Panaguda and Juba and the entire plantation spread out
over 40 acres of land. Not a single men folk was present in the
villages when the police forces descended on them, after travelling
more than 15 km in the deep forests and mountains.

The excise superintendent Mr Lokanath Mandia, the excise inspector, Mr
Damburu Dhara Gantayet, the OIC, Mr Mohona Ram Chandra Thamba, the
in-charge of the Chandragiri outpost Mr Abhimanyu Parida led the
squads This is the first time, this year that the excise department
has executed this raid, as there were numerous intelligence reports,
indicating the farming of hemps in various parts of Gajapati.
According to their own confession, today's destruction was only the
tip of the iceberg, as it is estimated that not less than 10 crore of
cannabis plantation is carried out in different parts of this tribal
dominated district. n sns