Maoists revert to ganja cultivation to raise funds

Bhubaneswar: Maoists, who used to get money from mines operators, engineering colleges and real estate owners in Odisha to fund their activities, have once again reverted to their old practice of ganja cultivation to raise funds, sources in the state home department said.

A downturn in the mining sector, large-scale vacancy of seats in engineering colleges and fall in the demand for prime properties in the state in the past four to five years has adversely affected volume of fund generation by the ultras.

As per sources, the Maoists have restarted extending their patronisation to ganja cultivators and peddlers in districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Boudh, Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Angul, Sambalpur and Deogarh. The hilly terrain and dense forests of these districts serve as ideal ground for ganja cultivators and peddlers.

Lack of good roads and bridges are the barriers for excise officials who don't dare to venture into the ganja fields fearing backlashes from the Naxals during the raid.

Despite these adversities, excise officials destroyed 24.38 lakh ganja plants in 2010-11, 21.65 lakh in 2011-12, 45.75 lakh in 2012-13, 90.54 lakh in 2013-14, 95.07 lakh plants in 2014-15, 48.54 lakh in 2015-16 and 68.09 lakh ganja plants in 2016-17. The value of one ganja plant is roughly estimated to be around `1,000.

On July 26, 2014, the Odisha government had formed a high-level committee, headed by the chief secretary, to take steps against ganja cultivation. It was then decided that the committee members with the help of local people’s representatives would create awareness among tribals and other people not to cultivate ganja in their respective areas for easy money, but to avail the government’s welfare measures implemented for them.

However, some people's representatives’ non-cooperation with the state administration for a variety of reasons has defeated their mission. In some cases, the representatives allegedly were hand-in-glove with the ganja cultivators and peddlers for monetary benefits. In some other cases, they kept themselves away from the awareness drives fearing the wrath of the rebels.

Assured with the possibility of good returns, the local moneylenders happily extended credit to the ganja growers. The ganja plant don't much water and care to grow and hence the chance of crop failure is low, even under extreme drought conditions or heavy rains.

An excise department official said, once the crop is harvested, the Maoists send the ganja West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and New Delhi with the assistance of experienced peddlers.

The ganja peddlers sometimes hire innocent tribals many of whom are still ignorant of the fact the cultivation of the crop is banned in the state and punishable under law.

On May 19 this year, at least 28 tribals were caught in Malkangiri carrying sacks of ganja in bamboo slings to Chhattisgarh. Besides, they also lure college-going girls who carry the contraband item in their study bags and airbags to avoid the watchful eyes of the excise department sleuths. Four such girls were caught on July 14 in Odisha's Bolangir when they were travelling in a Kolkata-bound bus with ganja packets stashed in their study bags. The peddlers sell ganja to conduits in other states between `1,000 and `1,500 per kg depending upon its quality. The local dealers sell them to customers between `10,000 to `15,000 per kg.

Odisha finance and excise minister Sashi Bhusan Behera said the officials have been directed to use satellite imagery to track down areas under ganja cultivation and the peddlers' movement.

"As per Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substa-nces Act, 1985, excise officers in the rank of sub-inspectors and above have been empowered to act on their own against people involved in contraband items. Besides, we are training more excise sleuths on how to curb ganja cultivation so that the source of income of the Naxals could be checked," he said.

In Odisha, the staff of Narcotics Control Bureau , state police, excise department, forest department and other officials jointly raids to destroy areas under ganja cultivation, while the Crime Branch of Odisha police monitors the operations.