Bhopal/Raipur: Days after a man was killed and 17 others were injured as an SUV laden with cannabis (ganja) crushed them in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur during a religious procession, Bhupesh Baghel government has started cracking down on cannabis trade which mostly source the drug from neighbouring Odisha.
After the mishap, Ajay Yadav, IG, Jashpur, had said that the car was being driven by drug traffickers who were hauling drugs from Odisha to Madhya Pradesh. Both the accused, natives of Singrauli, have been arrested and the police have levelled charges of murder against them, he said, adding that while one person had died, 17 others were admitted to two hospitals.
One Pathalgaon Station House Officer and an Assistant Sub Inspector of Police were suspended after the incident.
The Baghel government is also busy countering the cannabis smuggling network which uses Chhattisgarh as a transit route and sends supplies to MP and other states.
Sources claimed that Baghel has ordered the Director General of Police, Chhattisgarh, for holding a high-level meeting with his counterpart from Odisha for devising ways for dismantling the ganja trafficking network.
The DGPs of both the states and senior officers, including those involved in anti-naxal operations and Superintendents of Police (SPs) from borderline districts, will take part in the meet that is expected to be held shortly, a senior officer from CG police said. The officers will share inputs on the smuggling network and devise ways to tackle the movement of traffickers.
The police CG is busy devising a workplan which includes permanent check posts on the border and CCTV surveillance on border areas.
After the incident, Baghel had targeted governments of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, advising them to check the cannabis trafficking trade in their respective areas. Mostly, cannabis is supplied from Odisha into CG districts, he had said.
Baghel had also taken a pot-shot at Madhya Pradesh, saying both the drug peddlers arrested in Jashpur incident belonged to MP and it should be probed who is sheltering such elements in the state.
According to reports, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh collectively supply over 600 crore worth of cannabis to close to one dozen and half states via Chhattisgarh and other routes. Areas like Bastar, Mahasamund and Raigarh see smugglers taking the route to ensure illicit supply of cannabis in CG.
Taking the road route from Konta, the illegal stocks travel via districts like Jagdalpur, Sukma, Kanker, Kondagaon and Dhamtari, said an officer from anti-naxal operations, adding that security forces here mostly remain engaged in anti-Maoist operations and have little time to check this illicit trade.
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