Anakapalli police begin destroying 34,418 kg seized ganja

The destruction of 34,418 kg of ganja, seized in 459 cases over the past two years in Anakapalli district, began on Tuesday. Police estimated its worth at about ₹18 crore locally and up to ₹35 crore in some northern States. DGP Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao and Eagle IG A. Ravi Krishna launched the programme by placing 100 kg in an incinerator at JNPC, Parawada. About 7,000 kg will be destroyed daily, taking five days.

Written by AI from Anakapalli — politics · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 27 Sept 2026, 4:49 pm IST

Source

Anakapalli — politics · read the original report ↗

#ganja#narcotics#anakapalli#police#drug destruction

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

34,418 kg of ganja seized in 459 cases over two years in Anakapalli district, valued at about ₹18 crore locally and up to ₹35 crore in some northern States. — Figures appear in source, attributed to police; the higher valuation is a police estimate.
DGP Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao and Eagle IG A. Ravi Krishna began the destruction by placing 100 kg in an incinerator at JNPC, Parawada. — Directly described in source with named officials present.
About 7,000 kg will be destroyed per day, taking at least five days. — Attributed to police in source; internally consistent with total quantity.
Around 95,000 kg of seized ganja is held across districts in the State. — Attributed to Eagle IG A. Ravi Krishna.
In 2024, 162 cases were registered, 423 persons arrested and 7,442 kg ganja seized in the district. — Attributed to SP Tuhin Sinha; figure appears in source.

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Analysts’ view opinion

AI Legal Analyst

This is more than a police showpiece: under the NDPS framework, the handling and destruction of seized narcotics is itself a legal process bound by strict procedure. The story's mention that destruction happens in the presence of drug disposal committees matters, because once the bulk is burnt, prosecutions must stand on preserved samples, seizure records and an unbroken chain of custody. With material from 459 cases going into the incinerator together, whether representative samples and the required authorisations exist for each case will shape the strength of those trials.

Destruction of seized contraband is an administrative act, but its legal soundness rests entirely on compliance with evidence-preservation rules.
The shift from open burning on the city outskirts to an incinerator is a sound move in terms of environmental and public-health obligations, which touch on residents' health interests.
There is a legal nuance in the DGP's warning against cultivation, transport, storage and consumption alike: the NDPS scheme treats a personal consumer differently from a commercial-quantity trafficker, and the user-versus-trafficker distinction matters.
Suspect sheets, KD sheets, rowdy sheets and invocation of the PD Act are preventive rather than punitive tools; preventive detention in particular curtails liberty without a conviction and is therefore subject to advisory-board scrutiny and judicial review.
The statement that roughly 95,000 kg of seized ganja still sits across districts underlines why prompt disposal matters — long storage in police custody raises risks of pilferage and degradation of evidence.

What to watch — Watch how quickly the remaining stock statewide is disposed of and under whose committee oversight, and whether trials in the 459 cases proceed smoothly on sample-based evidence.

The story does not establish how court permissions and representative sampling were handled case by case, nor what the conviction rate in these cases has been.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 6 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

Andhra Pradesh, particularly the Agency areas of the erstwhile Visakhapatnam district and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district, has long been a major source region for ganja (cannabis) smuggled across India. Police in Anakapalli district began a mass destruction drive on January 28, 2025, for 34,418 kg of ganja seized in 459 cases over two years. Unlike earlier practice of open burning on the city outskirts, the contraband is now being incinerated at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharmacity (JNPC), Parawada, citing public health and environmental concerns. The State has also raised a dedicated anti-narcotics force, 'Eagle'.

Key facts

34,418 kg of ganja seized in 459 cases over the past two years in Anakapalli district is being destroyed, starting Tuesday, January 28, 2025.
The seized ganja is valued at about ₹18 crore in the erstwhile Visakhapatnam district and up to about ₹35 crore in some northern States, as per police.
DGP Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao and Eagle IG A. Ravi Krishna launched the drive by placing 100 kg of ganja in an incinerator at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharmacity (JNPC), Parawada.
About 7,000 kg will be destroyed per day, and the full quantity will take at least five days.
Eagle IG A. Ravi Krishna said around 95,000 kg of seized ganja is currently held across various districts of the State.
DGP said ganja plantations in Alluri Sitharama Raju district have fallen from thousands of acres some years ago to less than a hundred acres.
In 2024 alone in Anakapalli district: 162 cases registered, 423 persons arrested and 7,442 kg ganja seized, per SP Tuhin Sinha.
470 suspect sheets, three KD sheets and two rowdy-sheets were opened against 475 individuals in ganja cases; PD Act invoked against 11 persons.

Timeline

Some years agoThousands of acres of ganja plantations existed in Alluri Sitharama Raju district; now less than a hundred acres, per the DGP.
Previous practice (before the current drive)Officials destroyed seized ganja by burning it in an isolated place on the city outskirts.
Past two years34,418 kg of ganja seized in 459 cases in Anakapalli district.
2024162 ganja cases registered in the district, 423 persons arrested and 7,442 kg seized.
January 28, 2025 (Tuesday)Mass destruction programme launched at the JNPC incinerator, Parawada; 100 kg placed in the incinerator.
Next five days (from January 28, 2025)Destruction to continue at about 7,000 kg per day until the entire stock is incinerated.

Who has a stake

Anakapalli district police / SP Tuhin Sinha — Executing the destruction drive; has set up five permanent checkposts and uses CCTV cameras, drones and sniffer dogs against ganja cases.
Andhra Pradesh DGP Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao — Leading the statewide anti-ganja push; warns of strict action against cultivation, transport, storage and consumption.
'Eagle' anti-narcotics force and IG A. Ravi Krishna — Newly raised taskforce; deputation of staff under way, additional incentives promised; must handle around 95,000 kg of seized ganja statewide.
Drug disposal committees — Destruction of seized narcotics is to be carried out in their presence, ensuring procedural legality.
Jawaharlal Nehru Pharmacity (JNPC), Parawada — Hosts the incinerator used for environmentally safer destruction instead of open burning.
Tribal/Agency residents of ASR district — Ganja cultivation areas targeted by technology-based tracing and enforcement; livelihoods and legal exposure at stake.
District administration (Collector Vijaya Krishnan, DIG Gopinath Jatti, ASR SP Amit Bardar) — Oversight and coordination of the disposal and anti-narcotics drive.

Why it matters

Andhra Pradesh was once the source traced in ganja cases solved across the country, so shrinking cultivation from thousands of acres to under a hundred in ASR district signals a shift in India's cannabis supply chain. The move from open burning to incinerator-based destruction shows narcotics disposal itself is now treated as a public health and environmental issue. With about 95,000 kg of seized ganja still stored statewide, secure and lawful disposal is as much a governance challenge as interdiction.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

34,418 kg ganja seized in 459 cases in two years destroyed by Anakapalli district police from January 28, 2025.
Value: about ₹18 crore in erstwhile Visakhapatnam district; up to ₹35 crore in some northern States.
'Eagle' is Andhra Pradesh's anti-narcotics taskforce; its IG is A. Ravi Krishna; DGP is Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao.
Destruction site: incinerator at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharmacity (JNPC), Parawada, Anakapalli district.
Seized narcotics destruction is done in the presence of drug disposal committees.
Preventive Detention (PD) Act invoked against 11 persons; KD sheets and rowdy-sheets also used in ganja cases.

Mains framing

The Anakapalli destruction drive illustrates both the scale of India's cannabis problem and the maturing of the enforcement response. Andhra Pradesh's Agency belt, especially Alluri Sitharama Raju district, historically supplied ganja consumed nationally, with plantations running into thousands of acres; the DGP claims this is now under a hundred acres, achieved through technology-aided tracing of plantations, more checkposts, monitoring of smuggler movement, five permanent checkposts in Anakapalli, and use of CCTV, drones and sniffer dogs. Yet the residual burden is visible: about 95,000 kg of seized ganja lies in district stores statewide, creating risks of pilferage, deterioration and court delays, which is why disposal in the presence of drug disposal committees and via an incinerator rather than open burning matters for both legality and environmental safety. Enforcement alone, however, addresses supply; the DGP's reference to awareness programmes and strict action even against consumers points to the demand side, where a purely punitive approach can criminalise tribal cultivators and users. The way forward suggested by the source lies in institutionalising the 'Eagle' taskforce on the model of the red sanders taskforce and Greyhounds, with staff deputation and incentives, combined with sustained awareness drives and timely, procedurally sound destruction of seized stocks.

Key terms

Ganja: Cannabis, a narcotic substance whose cultivation, transport, storage and consumption attract criminal action under narcotics law.
Eagle: Andhra Pradesh's anti-narcotics taskforce, headed by an IG; staff deputation under way with additional government incentives.
Drug disposal committee: Official committee in whose presence seized narcotic substances must be destroyed, ensuring procedural compliance.
Incinerator at JNPC, Parawada: Facility at Jawaharlal Nehru Pharmacity used to burn seized ganja, replacing open burning on the city outskirts.
PD Act: Preventive detention law invoked against habitual offenders; used against 11 persons in ganja-related cases in the district.
KD sheet / rowdy sheet / suspect sheet: Police records opened on known dacoits, habitual troublemakers and suspects to track repeat offenders.

Practice questions

Discuss the challenges in the disposal of seized narcotic substances in India, using the Anakapalli ganja destruction drive to illustrate legal, environmental and administrative concerns.
Andhra Pradesh's Agency areas were once the country's principal source of ganja. Examine the enforcement and socio-economic measures needed to make the decline in cultivation sustainable.
Specialised taskforces such as Greyhounds, the red sanders taskforce and now 'Eagle' have become central to State policing. Critically evaluate their effectiveness and accountability.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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