Yavatmal district police chief Kumar Chinta has set up a district-level Anti-Narcotics Squad.[1] The squad works under the Local Crime Branch and was placed in the charge of assistant police inspector Srikanth Jindamwar.[1] Police said its job is to investigate the district’s drug-selling racket, uncover the whole network, find the sources of supply and act against everyone involved.[1]

Over the past month the police chief also ran a crackdown on people selling ganja and on those growing it secretly.[1] Officers raided places in the district after information that cannabis was being cultivated illegally in fields.[1] Investigators said the district was supplied with drugs from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.[1]

The problem of drug sale and use, once confined to the city, has now reached rural parts of the district.[1] Over the past year police also carried out large-scale action against MD, a synthetic drug not counted in the cannabis figures.[1] Police said forming the special squad would speed up action against the supply chain.[1] Chinta appealed to residents to inform police if drugs were being sold in their area.[1] Parents were advised to watch for changes in their children’s behaviour, their friends and daily routine, and for sudden spending or repeated requests for money.[1]