**Chitrakonda:** Ganja worth over Rs 8 crore cultivated on 55 acres of government forest land in various villages of Malkangiri district were destroyed by joint team of excise officials and police personnel on Friday.
Reportedly, Malkangiri Excise staff, Cuttack Excise Flying squad, Jeypore Excise Intelligence and Enforcement Bureau (EI & EB), Koraput Excise staff and Chitrakonda Police destroyed around 82,500 ganja plants at Phulpodar, RSC-1, RSC-4 and Raipur villages of the district.
Though the team faced some stiff obstruction from local women during the drive, they successfully destroyed the illegally cultivated plants.
Malkangiri SP Jagmohan Meena informed that ganja cultivation on 445 acres of land has been destroyed by Malkangiri police and Excise department jointly in the month of November. The worth of the destroyed crops is estimated to be around Rs 65 crores.
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