13 Gajapati villagers held for assaulting cops during raid on ganja smuggling

Berhampur: Thirteen people were arrested on Thursday for allegedly assaulting police personnel near Mahapadar and Gundripanka villages in Gajapati district the previous evening.The accused allegedly launched an attack when 10 personnel of Adava police station were conducting patrolling in two vehicles in the area during a crack down on ganja trafficking. All of a sudden, a group of villagers gathered and detained them for over two hours, police said.“The villagers allegedly started abusing and assaulting the police. They also threatened them,” said Rakesh Kumar Sahoo, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), R Udayagiri.

He said additional forces from Adava police station rushed to the spot and rescued the policemen.Early on Thursday, police raided the villages and arrested 13 men. Police also searched other villagers to nab those involved in the attack, the SDPO said.The villages wore a deserted look, as most of the men fled fearing police action. Those who remained claimed the attackers might be linked to ganja smugglers.Police said the villagers might have attacked them suspecting they might be arrested for storing contraband.

On Sunday, police had seized around 1,054 kg ganja worth Rs 1 crore in a raid in the forest area near Gundripanka. The drug traffickers had concealed the ganja in the caves near the villages.The SDPO said they have launched a drive to unearth ganja stored in different places. In the last 10 days, police have recovered more than 5 quintals of ganja, worth over Rs 5 crore from different places in Adava and R Udayagiri police stations limits.