Chittoor district, flanked by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, is fast emerging as a potential transit zone for ganja smuggling.
The district is known for frequent ganja seizures at railway stations, bus stands and checkposts. In August 2019 alone, the Chittoor police seized about 150 kg of ganja at two separate locations under Kuppam and Mudivedu police station limits in the district. The stock, estimated to be worth over ₹1 crore, was on its way to Bengaluru and Anantapur. Four accused were taken into custody, including two Tamil Nadu operatives. However, the majority of the cases trace their origins to the Agency area of Visakhapatnam district.
Police said that the ganja peddlers make use of the readily available railway routes from Vizag to the southern States, particularly Chennai and Bengaluru.
“While huge stocks of ganja that are packed in gunny sacks are sometimes detected, small parcels carried by amateur peddlers remain undetected. The organised network that spreads all the way from Vizag to Chennai has several stakeholders at railway stations,” a senior police officer attached to the Railway Police said. The stocks, after reaching the border areas in Chittoor, would be later routed to industrial areas in Tamil Nadu such as Ambur, Vaniyambadi and Ranipet.
Superintendent of Police (Chittoor) Ch. Venkata Appala Naidu told The Hindu that Chittoor district had become a traditional transit route for ganja peddlers since several years. “The stocks mostly reach Vellore and Chennai, targeting students there, apart from several other potential cities in Tamil Nadu. We have intensified surveillance at all vulnerable routes known for ganja transportation across the inter-state borders,” the SP said.
Constant surveillance
The official said that it had also come to the notice of the police that the network is also trying to be active in Chittoor district, but is finding it tough due to round-the-clock surveillance. “Some peddlers are still making efforts to ply their trade among students, and we are alert to it,” Mr Appala Naidu said.
District Crime Records Bureau (DCRB) in-charge Mahesh Mopuri said that most of the accused in ganja smuggling incidences hail from Vizag and Tamil Nadu. He said that the ganja peddlers mostly target daily wagers and workers at industrial units in the district.
“We have special parties to tackle the ganja peddlers at all vulnerable points in the district,” he said.
