Warangal emerges as narcotics hub

HYDERABAD: Warangal district stands first and Hyderabad fourth in the number of cases registered in the last five years relating to tarnsport and sale of narcotics. The total number of cases registered stands at 1,029. According to the records of the Crime Investigation Department, 242 cases have been registered in Warangal, 231 in Kurnool, 224 in Visakhapatnam, 167 in Hyderabad and 165 in Medak for offences committed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 in the past five years. “The sale and transport of narcotics is more in Telangana, particularly in Warangal and its surrounding areas where ganja cultivation is rampant,’’ said BL Sujatha Rao, deputy inspector- general of police (CID).The ganja cultivated in Warangal is transported to other states as well,’’ he said.The DIG said they had conducted a series of raids on ganja cultivation in the villages of Warangal and other districts in Telangana. Wherever raids wer e conducted, the ganja plants in the fields were set ablaze.“Though the Narcotics Control Bureau has been advising people of the area to give up ganja cultivation, but farmers are defiant,” said an officer of the CID.Narcotics, particularly ganja which is sold in Hyderabad and other cities in the state, are usually transported from Warangal and its surrounding districts areas, he added.Hyderabad is a hub for foreign narcotics.Apart from 128 cases of sale of local ganja, 17 cases of sale of foreign narcotics were registered in the the state capital and its surrounding areas in the last two years. African students were caught selling cocaine at several universities including the English and Foreign Languages University, Osmania University and University of Hyderabad, and at hangouts such as pubs, IT hub Hitec City and the posh Sainikpuri area. “In Hyderabad the sale of narcotics has been controlled. The decline in the number of cases is proof of it,” claimed Sujatha Rao. He said the narotics users were mainly youngsters aged between 20 and 30 years from universities and those who frequent pubs. Opium, heroin and brown sugar find their way to pubs where many users were caught, he said.