Muniguda: A joint team comprising of Rayagada police and excise officials destroyed cannabis cultivation worth over Rs 5.4 crore in Siripur village and forest areas under Chandrapur police limits, Saturday morning.
According to sources, the team raided Siripur village and its nearby areas. Police felled cannabis plants cultivated on about 45 acres of land. Later, the plants were torched under active supervision to make those unusable.
The destroyed cannabis plants were worth around Rs 5.4 crore.
Massive ganja cultivations of more than Rs 50 crore have been destroyed during the last seven days, a in various districts of Odisha.
Earlier, November 29 a joint team destroyed cannabis plants worth around Rs 10.4 crore from Gajapati district.
Cannabis cultivation has gone up substantially since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployed youths including those who lost their jobs owing to shutdowns have taken up ganja cultivation.
PNN
