Odisha turning into hub of Ganja smuggling!

The arrest of Ganja (cannabis) smuggler Nilu Pradhan on Sunday from Ganjam district has raised the eyebrows of many. Be it Nilu Pradhan or Pandi brothers, several Ganja mafias were found to have interstate links.

As per sources, the contraband item is being massively cultivated in around eight Odisha districts, which are Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Ganjam, Angul, and Mayurbhanj.

More than 3,000 persons were arrested in connection with cannabis smuggling in the State in the past two years. Consequently, Odisha is now under the scanner of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), and police of other states in the country.

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Following the arrest of Nilu Pradhan, interstate links of Ganja smuggling are coming to the fore. It is known that Nilu has a network in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Mumbai. The two ill-reputed brother duo Sunil Pandi and Anil Pandi also had interstate links, which was confirmed during the probe.

Cannabis illegally produced in Malkangiri is widely being sold in Mumbai. Similarly, the ‘Sheelavathi’ variety of Ganja has good demand in Mumbai, New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajasthan, including Odisha.

“A total of 61 cases were registered in Ganjam district in the last five years and around 120 accused were arrested,” Berhampur SP, Saravana Vivek M said when contacted.

“A preliminary investigation revealed that after procuring Ganja, he (Nilu) was supplying them to Gujarat, Mumbai and other states. We have sought information from NCB, Mumbai. We will proceed further after getting the necessary information,” Beguniapada IIC Sameer Kumar Rout stated.

“Cannabis is massively being cultivated in nearly 14 districts of Odisha, which has turned into a hub in the country. If the cultivation of Ganja can be stopped from the grassroots level, then the question of its trading will not arise at all,” former Excise Commissioner Sudarshan Nayak expressed.

Notably, a whitepaper previously published by the State Home Department revealed that around 2,410 persons were arrested in connection with cannabis smuggling in 2023. More than 1,812 quintals of the contraband item were seized from the possession of the arrested.

Malkangiri district alone registered 166 cannabis smuggling cases in FY 2023-24 and 203 persons were arrested in this connection. The district police seized Ganja worth around Rs 180 Crore.

Likewise, in the year 2024 so far, police have registered 42 cases and arrested 119 persons.