Maoists promote ganja cultivation

PHULBANI (ODISHA): Anti-socials with the “active” support of politicians and Maoists are allegedly encouraging ganja cultivation in the communally sensitive Kandhamal district. According to sources, ganja cultivation is being undertaken in hundreds of acres of land in the inaccessible parts of the district.

Anti-socials who receive huge funds from money-lenders persuade the local people to cultivate ganja it gives hefty returns on their investment. “As against Rs  10,000 invested in an acre of land, the mafias get Rs 1 lakh. The profit is shared among all the patrons. The immediate and easy return on the investment is the major allurement for the ganja cultivators,” says Ashok Mohanty, a social worker who is engaged in anti-ganja cultivation drive in the district.

What is quite shocking that during raids the actual the daily-wage earners, who are engaged in preparing and tilling the land for ganja crop, are arrested. The real investors escape the police dragnet. Sources added that of the most of the 58 persons arrested in 2015 for allegedly cultivating ganja in the district are innocent tribals who still do not know that growing the crop is banned and an offence as per law of the land.

As many as 30 cases of ganja cultivation were registered in 2015. Ganja cultivated in Kandhamal district is great demand in Bhubaneswar, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Angul, Boudh and Bolangir towns.