Summary:
It is learnt that apart from the Prohibition and Excise Department and the State Intelligence Bureau, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Intelligence Bureau have also put some accounts under surveillance. According to Rahul Dev Sharma, SP, Visakhapatnam, it is a known fact that the ganja smugglers are used by the Maoists for their logistic support. Keeping this in mind, it is learnt from reliable sources in the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) that the bank accounts of the ganja smugglers who were caught by the Excise Department and the police - 731 and 2,458 respectively between 2015 and 2017 – in the Visakhapatnam agency area have been kept under surveillance. And there is all possibility that the Maoists have a share in the trade, said a senior officer from the Intelligence Department. Ganja is rampantly grown in at least nine mandals such as Chintapalli, GK Veedhi, G.Madugula, Pedabayalu and Munchingput in Visakhapatnam agency..