Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair) April 8: A fresh police raid in Diglipur has thrown the spotlight on what senior police officials described as a growing problem of illegal cannabis cultivation, also known as ganja, in the northern part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with investigators recovering live plants, uprooted stock and processed cannabis material from a site in Talbagan. Senior police officials said recent enforcement action has also indicated that small cannabis cultivation patches have surfaced in multiple pockets of North and Middle Andaman, especially in and around Diglipur, suggesting the problem may be more spread out than isolated seizures initially indicated.
The latest seizure, made by a team from Kalighat Police Station on April 2, has reinforced concerns that cannabis, or ganja, is not merely being consumed locally but is also being cultivated in semi-rural pockets that are harder to detect without sustained intelligence and local inputs, senior police officials said.
Acting on specific intelligence, the police team raided the area near the residence of a 52-year-old man, Augustine Ballava, at Talbagan in Diglipur. During the search, police recovered contraband cannabis in multiple forms, including live cannabis plants, uprooted plants and a packet containing cannabis flower tops, according to senior police officials.
Senior police officials said the nature of the seizure has raised concern that illegal cannabis activity in the area may extend beyond isolated possession cases and include small-scale production at the source. The presence of both standing and uprooted plants, along with prepared flower tops, points to an active cultivation cycle and possible local distribution or consumption, they said. Senior police officials added that earlier recoveries in places such as Kalighat and Gandhi Nagar had also suggested that cannabis plants were being raised in concealed patches near residential or cultivation land.
All the seized material was taken into custody after legal formalities were completed, and a case was registered against the accused under relevant provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. He has been arrested and further investigation is underway, senior police officials said.
The raid was conducted under the supervision of SDPO Diglipur Ankesh Yadav (DANIPS) and the overall supervision of Superintendent of Police, North and Middle Andaman, Vikas Swami (IPS).
Senior police officials said the case has added to concerns over the narcotics situation in the islands, where law enforcement agencies have in recent months stepped up action against both synthetic drugs and traditional narcotics. While methamphetamine and other synthetic substances have increasingly figured in enforcement action, the Diglipur seizure shows that cannabis cultivation continues to survive at the grassroots level as well, they said.
Such plantations are often concealed in less-monitored areas, making early detection difficult, senior police officials said. That, in turn, has placed greater emphasis on intelligence gathering and public cooperation, especially in areas where small, discreet cultivation may go unnoticed for long periods.
Residents have been urged to share credible information related to narcotics or other illegal activities with the nearest police station or through helpline numbers 100, 112 and 03192-273344. Senior police officials said the identity of informers would be kept confidential and suitable rewards may be given for actionable inputs.
The Diglipur raid is likely to deepen scrutiny of whether illegal cannabis cultivation is spreading quietly in parts of North and Middle Andaman, posing a challenge that may require not only police action but sustained vigilance at the community level.
