VIJAYAWADA: The state government is set to initiate stern action against those involved in the cultivation of ganja and supply of drugs by booking them under the Preventive Detention Act.
Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy, while chairing a state-level narcotics coordination apex committee meeting here on Tuesday, directed the police, special enforcement bureau personnel and other stakeholders to deal with such offences in a firm manner and bookcases against the accused and take measures to ensure that they are not granted bail.
He asked district collectors and SPs to pay attention to curb such crime and highlighted the need to keep a tab on parcels and courier services and rope in RPF and GRP personnel to check railway parcels.
The Chief Secretary also called for more awareness among students on the ill effects of the consumption of ganja and drugs on their health.
Director General of Police K.V. Rajendranath Reddy attended the meeting virtually. He said the police had carried out intense checks in Alluri Sitarama Raju district and reduced the cultivation of ganja, adding that ganja was being smuggled in from parts of Odisha. The police are making all efforts to detect and destroy the same, besides initiating action against the transporters.
Special enforcement bureau commissioner Ravi Prakash said that in the last three years, 5,560 cases were booked and 4.92 lakh kilos of ganja seized, in addition to arresting 9,568 persons.
