Cuttack, Oct. 30: Involvement of government officials, including lower-rank police personnel, is severely affecting the state government's fight against illegal narcotics trade in the state.
Acknowledging the involvement of police personnel in cannabis cultivation, additional director general of police (crime branch) B.K. Sharma said the "leakage of secret" information by officials has emerged as a major concern against the fight to stop the narcotics trade.
To tackle this, the police are planning to use global positioning system (GPS) in remote and inaccessible areas. The Telegraph had carried a report on ganja in its October 28 edition.
"For the first time, we are going to use GPS with the assistance of experts from Odisha Space Application Centre and with direct inputs from intelligence and the administration to pinpoint areas under ganja cultivation and subsequently destroy them," Sharma said at a conference today.
Official sources said the move to use GPS came in the wake of reports that people engaged in the illegal trade were eyeing new areas, specially hilly and inaccessible pockets. Cannabis and poppy cultivation, earlier concentrated in eight districts - Angul, Deogarh, Boudh, Gajapati, Sambalpur, Rayagada, Kandhamal and Malkangiri - has now spread to Nayagarh.
There have been several instances where police personnel, including home guards, were found to be involved in the transportation of ganja. In June, a constable and a home guard of Phulbani police station were arrested for their alleged involvement in the transportation of narcotics.
"The special task force (STF) has been successful in arresting some police personnel involved in the transportation of ganja. All district superintendents have been asked to remain alert," Sharma said.
Senior police officials, including superintendents of police of nine districts, attended today's conference to chalk out a comprehensive strategy and discuss pro-active measures to prevent the cultivation and to destroy areas under cannabis and poppy during the current crop year.
Though the excise department and the police have jointly destroyed cannabis cultivation on 3,768 acres against its target of 3,000 acres for 2014-15, there has been a sharp fall in the registration of cases under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
As many as 320 cases have been registered by the end of September this year against 354 cases registered in 2014 and 404 in 2013.
Altogether 467 people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the illegal trade this year while 521 people were arrested under the NDPS Act in 2014, 397 in 2013 and 312 in 2012.
