HYDERABAD: Despite the crackdown by law enforcement agencies on ganja, the demand for the contraband is said to be on the rise. Ganja sachets which were sold for Rs 100 earlier are now sold for Rs 500 due the police offensive against drug peddlers.
After the state government took up the drug issue seriously, the city police formed Hyderabad Narcotics Enforcement Wing (H-NEW). It was stated that 80 per cent of the ganja sale from different areas of Mangalhat was almost stopped.
Strangely, the regular customers are still able to get their stocks easily. The reason: suppliers operate in the early hours and cater to regular customers on getting full advance payment.
“My sister was addicted to ganja. My family members were shocked when they came to know this. A couple of weeks ago, I could not see her suffering, as she was literally losing her mental balance after my father had locked her in a room,” K. Siddharth, a businessman said.
“I got her a sachet from a known person only on a promise that this would be her last one and she kept her promise. She is now in rehab in Pune. She is a sportswoman and mentally strong. She has changed and will be back by May second week. It is all about one’s will power,” he said.
The police are only focusing on smuggling of ganja via road transport though the main transportation is through goods trains. “The smugglers dump the contraband into trains. They know at which points the goods trains stop and the suppliers collect the contraband from identified points in the jungles,” a former ganja cultivator said.
The first quality drugs, popularly known as ‘sheelavati’, has a greenish tinge and its smell is very powerful.
“There are ganja cultivations in Agency areas of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana borders, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where not only police but even strangers are not allowed,” Vallabh Trivedi, a former ganja cultivator and supplier, said. “After the police tightened the noose, I decided to stop and find another business.”
“As far as Hyderabad is concerned, our teams are doing their best and have sealed local ganja selling points in the entire city. We have our own informers and our officers are keeping an eye on the identified hotspots,” a senior police officer of H-NEW said.
