The Visakhapatnam district police, after months of wait, has got a legal nod to destroy the ganja seized from the smugglers. The police destroyed more than 82,400 kgs (82 tonnes) of dry ganja in the presence of the Drug Disposal Committee at Balighattam dumping yard in Narsipatnam on Wednesday.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (Visakha Range) L.K.V. Ranga Rao said that the ganja was seized in more than 657 cases under 41 police stations limits in Visakhapatnam district. It was the first time that such a huge quantity of dry ganja was destroyed in a single day in the district.
Properties seized
“More than 1,26,350 kgs of seized ganja was destroyed in since 2018 in the Visakhapatnam Rural Police limits. We have been on the job to identify the smugglers, including the inter-State operatives to invoke PD Act against them. We have invoked PD Act against 17 ganja smugglers recently and seized the properties of two smugglers,” said Mr. Ranga Rao.
Rural Superintendent of Police B. Krishna Rao said the police had stepped up the enforcement on ganja smuggling in the Visakha Agency and in the last two months, the police booked 67 cases and seized around 18,000 kg of ganja worth around ₹2.8 crore.
The police said they would auction the seized vehicles as per court orders. In the past two years, over 200 seized vehicles have been auctioned for ₹87 lakh in the district.
The police said that the apex court had given guidelines that the seized cannabis had to be destroyed in a scientific manner from time to time.
