Bhubaneswar: Seizure of ganja in the twin cities has increased by 30 per cent, reveals the latest police report.

While the police had seized ganja weighing 451kg in the twin cities in 2016, it went up to 585kg by the end of October last year.

The report also revealed increase in the number of cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. While the police had registered 30 cases in 2016, the number went up to 46 by October end last year. The police during this period also arrested 72 persons.

The police said ganja was mainly cultivated in districts such as Angul, Sambalpur, Boudh, Kandhamal, Malkangiri and Rayagada. Ganja, grown in the southern districts, is often smuggled to Bengal and Bihar through Bhubaneswar. The police had in 2016 seized ganja weighing around 361kg from Bhubaneswar.

The police said smugglers were using public transport, mostly private buses, to transport the contraband to Bhubaneswar. "In recent past, we have arrested several ganja smugglers from Baramunda bus stand. After we started keeping tabs on the buses, the peddlers switched over to costly cars to smuggle ganja to avoid suspicion," said a police official.

On December 1 last year, the police busted a ganja smuggling racket in Bhubaneswar and seized 40kg of ganja.

While a packet of ganja weighing 10 grams is sold for Rs 20, a piece of cigarette stuffed with the contraband is being sold at a price of Rs 10. Sources said ganja was generally bought at about Rs 1,500 per kg and sold at an approximate Rs 3,000. The police said a peddler selling about 50 to 60kg of marijuana on daily basis fetching a profit of Rs 90,000 every day.

Police commissioner Y.B. Khurania said the quick action team had been asked to keep tabs on ganja smuggling to the twin cities. "We have also asked police stations to crackdown on ganja peddlers," said Khurania.