MALKANGIRI: Even as police and administration in Malkangiri have intensified their campaign against ganja cultivation, the red rebels’ support has encouraged those involved in it in Swabhiman Anchal. In a two-page letter written in Telugu, Secretary of Andhra Odisha Border Special Zonal Commmittee (AOBSZC) of the banned CPI (Maoist) Ganesh has stated that in the absence of any alternative source of income, weed cultivation has become the mainstay for the tribals.
“The police-politician nexus gains through ganja cultivation but the cultivators face loss when their crops are destroyed. Instead of snatching their only source of livelihood, the government should focus on taking steps to make people self-reliant,” added Ganesh. Contacted, Chitrakonda SDPO Anshuman Dwivedi told this paper that the allegations levelled by the Maoists are baseless.
“The increase in seizures of ganja, arrests of peddlers and campaign against cultivation only points to the efficiency of the system in taking action against the wrong-doers,” said Dwivedi, adding that police had recently forfeited Rs 3 crore property of ganja peddlers in the district.
Meanwhile, Mudulipada police on Wednesday seized 50 kg ganja during patrolling near Lamtaguda village on Govindpalli-Balimela State Highway-47 and arrested two persons in the connection. The accused were identified as Sourav Bhonsle and Brajesh Tiwari of Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh. Two mobile phones, the car in which the narcotics was being transported and Rs 1,300 cash were also seized from their possession.