In a letter issued on Wednesday, the CPI (Maoist) denied police statements that they had links with ganja smuggling activities from agency areas of Visakhapatnam district and tribal districts of neighboring Odisha.
AOBSZC’s CPI (Maoist) spokesperson, Ganesh said in the letter that the police was trying to tarnish the organization’s ideology by making false allegations that ganja was being cultivated under the patronage of Maoists and that they received a share of the profits. . .
“We have reiterated many times in the past that we have nothing to do with hemp cultivation,” he said. The Maoists also urged the tribals to oppose the efforts of the police, SEB and the Excise Department, which are on a mission to destroy the ganja plantations.
Ganesh said the move should be strongly opposed until the authorities present an alternative and self-sustaining cropping model to the tribals.
“In the name of change and campaign against drugs, the police is destroying crops and directly harming the livelihood of innocent tribals,” he said. The letter also alleged that the tribals are actually used as daily wage laborers in the cultivation of cannabis, while the real beneficiaries are middlemen including political leaders and police officers.
The spokesperson also named some police officials, including a DSP rank officer, who had allegedly forced the tribals to grow the crop and earn a hefty amount by selling it.
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