24/11/2007 00:00:00
India: Drive to destroy cannabis plantations succeeds
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PARALAKHEMUNDI, Nov. 23: 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
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=9&theme=&usrsess=1&id=177635
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=13038
Author:
The Statesman: India via UKCIA
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