Lakshmipuram village, Telangana: Farmers in a village of Telangana have been growing and selling ganja (marijuana) as a cash crop for decades and no one noticed. However, on a tip-off, the police cordoned off the village which houses 200 families and conducted a search operation.
The police had detained a few engineering college students in Tandur, a neighbouring mandal, for possessing ganja, on Wednesday. While interrogating them, they revealed their source’s name and about how they shared the contact of their source with their friends, The News Minute reports.
“As the quality of the ganja is fresh, many youngsters and students from the posh Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills of Hyderabad would come and buy from here,” said Chintala Saidi Reddy, Tandur Circle Inspector.
The supplier got nabbed by the police, who led them to Lakshmipuram village. As a part of their raid, police sent two constables disguised as students to buy ganja worth Rs 10,000 from the village. The constables were then able to obtain two full bags of ganja from a woman.
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“Two police teams comprising 50 constables, 10 Sub-Inspectors and 2 Circle Inspectors, surrounded the village. We blocked the roads and raided the houses. We found that each household had at least two-three bags of ganja stocked like rice,” Chintala Reddy said.
The arrested person told that they have been growing ganja and the police have never entered the village.
“Farmers in the village cleverly grow ganja in the middle of other crops like red gram and cotton so that no one notices,” said Kodangal Circle Inspector, Shankar, who was also part of the operation. The arrested persons claimed innocence saying it is not just them but the entire village that grows ganja, he added.
Police till now have arrested five persons—Bunku Ramulu, Mallappa, Kishtappa, Aashappa and Ramulu, all aged above 40. Chintala told TNM that during the raid women had fled into the farm fields, weeded out the ganja before police could come.
The arrested persons were charged under NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act. Police seized 30 kg of ganja during the raid, while further investigation is on.