Ganja plants destroyed by police

Malkangiri (Orissa), Feb 4 (PTI) Ganja plants valuedat over Rs five crore in the international market wasdestroyed by the police in Orissa''s Malkangiri district today,police said.

The plants grown over five acres of forest land inJaramba and Jaraguda gram panchayats had gained substantialheight and had borne fruits, superintendent of police AnirudhaSingh said.

On a tip off, police raided the area and felled plantsnumbering over five lakh before setting them on fire.

However, no one was arrested in this connection as noclaimant came forward because of the plants being grown ongovernment land, he said.

As the area is inaccessible, ganja mafias from TamilNadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka make periodic visitto supply seeds to local tribals to grow the plants.

The tribals keep a watch on the plants and in returnget money towards their wages, he said.