rediff.com: Josy Joseph reports on a valley of vice

Part 2

This way to Malana... no police, no laws

Josy Joseph
Read Part 1
Weave for yourself a magical web, seek solace in hashish smoke -- enjoy!
Welcome, once again, to the Hashish Eden of Himalayas.
In tranquil Kullu, hashish is cheaper than chocolate bar. And as common as water.
The transformation of this Himachal Pradesh district into a den of drugs started in the hippie era -- to be more precise, at the fag end of it, when the hippies started looking for a new destination to smoke their sorrows out.
There is no record of who started it all. More than two decades ago, some hippies who landed up in Kullu realised that cannabis grew wild in the region. The weather and land were just perfect for it.
The westerners found that the villagers were poor, the police lax, and the valley an ideal location for a fantasy world lost in hashish smoke. And there began Kullu's tragedy.
Today, most villages in the mountains boast acres of cannabis plantation. Organised and well maintained, there are hundreds of employees working on them.
A sizeable chunk of these labourers are from Nepal. The police and local residents hold them responsible to a large extent for the rising crime graph here.
District authorities say cannabis plantations are mostly in the forests and revenue land around villages. This saves the villagers from being booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
To reach these villages, one has to trek for hours. The residents are mostly thakurs and harijans. They live in an altogether different world -- where there are no police, no laws and almost no real links with the outside world.
CANNABIS cultivation begins in June-July. Seeds are sown after the first rain. By September, cannabis begins to ripen. And by December, the harvest is over.
Villages with cannabis growing around in abundance are many: Rachni, Sarsadi, Channikot, Ginjra, Bajendra, Cheri, Shrodwala... The list is long.
But one village stands out: Malana.
Situated off the Kullu-Manikaran road, Malana produces high quality cannabis. The hashish produced here, Malana crème, is the dream of an addict.
The village is hostile to Indian tourists, preferring to open its arms to rich foreigners. The police will not let you travel here alone.
"Malana crème contains 26 per cent THC (tetra hydro cannabinal oil) whereas the normal hashish contains just four per cent," says Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Rakesh Goel, under whom the area falls.
The THC content, he explains, measures the "strength" of a narcotic.
The average hashish of Kullu contains almost 10 per cent THC, which "itself is higher than normal international hashish," he adds.
SEIZURES by a weak, archaic police force will give you a rough idea of how flourishing, how simply huge, the drug trade is in Kullu.
In the past 10 months, authorities have seized 127 kg of hashish, 83 grams of brown sugar, four kg of opium and seven kg of ganja.
"This is almost five times more than what it was last year," says Venu Gopal, who took over as the superintendent of police in Kullu recently.
Unfortunately, the enthusiasm this Indian Police Service officer of the 1995 batch shows does not get much support from his force by way of manpower or equipment. Also, the local populace is hostile to the police.
In 1999 only 15 cases were registered under the NDPS Act. This year, it has already jumped to 34.
On July 30, the police and NCB personnel seized 62 kg of hashish -- estimated to cost almost Rs 100 million in the international market -- from Faryari More village in the Banjar valley.
Two villagers, Khub Ram and Ram Singh Tung, were arrested after a decoy struck a deal with them.
Khub Ram was the panchayat pradhan of Mashiar village, which, the police say, is reflective of an emerging trend.
"Some very influential locals are involved in this trade," reveals a district official.
The arrest of Gupt Ram Thakur's family is a case in point. Thakur, his wife Jhumfi Devi, daughter Laxmi Thakur, son-in-law Ranjit Thakur and daughter-in-law Kartiki Devi have been jailed on the basis of that arrest.
The police seized 36 kg of hashish from their houses during a raid on October 13, 1999: 15 kg was hidden in the residence of Laxmi and Ranjit where Thakur was also present. And 21 kg was recovered from his residence, from where his wife and daughter-in-law were arrested.
"The arrests were based on immediate possession. So all of them were booked. His son was out of the house, so we could not book him," says Goel.
The family, he adds, is in the upper income bracket.
INVESTIGATIONS reveal that several criminals, including a few from south India, are setting up base in the region for narcotic trade.
For them it is easy money. A kilo of hashish is available for anything between Rs 4,000 and Rs 10,000 in the villages. Once out of Kullu, it will fetch up to Rs 20,000. And when it crosses the Indian border, the prize would go up many times over.
The district police reveal that they are watching a few 'outsiders', among them a south Indian.
"He couldn't have made so much of money in such a short time except through drugs," officials say.
On August 21, Deputy Superintendent of Police Kushal Sharma arrested Gopal Sen, 44, a resident of Kinnaur district. He was carrying four kilos of opium, worth over Rs 6 million in the international market.
"We have noticed this trend of people from other parts of the country coming here to purchase drugs and retailing it outside Kullu," Sharma says.
Amarjeet Singh Chawla, originally from Patiala had set up a shop near the Bhuntar airport. He was arrested in June for peddling narcotics. The shop was just a cover for him. When taken into custody he had some 2.5 kg of hashish with him.
Local people and outsiders -- mostly Indians -- carry drugs from Kullu to destinations such as Goa, Bombay, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. In several cases, youths from Delhi, Punjab and Harayana have been arrested with hashish, says Goel.
Though Indians are actively involved, it is the foreigners who are believed to be the key supporters of the trade. Indeed, it is they who sustain the trade, the police say.
"It is their money and support that is making it flourish," says a police official.
Investigations show that it is not just money that foreigners bring with them. The interrogation of Duni Chand, of Manikaran Gohar village, gives an inkling of how much the westerners are involved:
Chand told the NCB that quality seeds for cultivation in several parts of Banjar valley are brought from Switzerland.
ON TO PART 3
Come, meet Kullu's foreign godfathers
Photographs: Josy Joseph
Page design: Dominic Xavier

Do mail us your comments
Valley of Vice | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4
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	Part 2 This way to Malana... no police, no laws Josy Joseph Read Part 1 Weave for yourself a magical web, seek solace in hashish smoke -- enjoy! Welcome, once again, to the Hashish Eden of Himalayas. In tranquil Kullu, hashish is cheaper than chocolate bar. And as common as water. The transformation of this Himachal Pradesh district into a den of drugs started in the hippie era -- to be more precise, at the fag end of it, when the hippies started looking for a new destination to smoke their sorrows out. There is no record of who started it all. More than two decades ago, some hippies who landed up in Kullu realised that cannabis grew wild in the region. The weather and land were just perfect for it. The westerners found that the villagers were poor, the police lax, and the valley an ideal location for a fantasy world lost in hashish smoke. And there began Kullu's tragedy. Today, most villages in the mountains boast acres of cannabis plantation. Organised and well maintained, there are hundreds of employees working on them. A sizeable chunk of these labourers are from Nepal. The police and local residents hold them responsible to a large extent for the rising crime graph here. District authorities say cannabis plantations are mostly in the forests and revenue land around villages. This saves the villagers from being booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. To reach these villages, one has to trek for hours. The residents are mostly thakurs and harijans. They live in an altogether different world -- where there are no police, no laws and almost no real links with the outside world. CANNABIS cultivation begins in June-July. Seeds are sown after the first rain. By September, cannabis begins to ripen. And by December, the harvest is over. Villages with cannabis growing around in abundance are many: Rachni, Sarsadi, Channikot, Ginjra, Bajendra, Cheri, Shrodwala... The list is long. But one village stands out: Malana. Situated off the Kullu-Manikaran road, Malana produces high quality cannabis. The hashish produced here, Malana crème, is the dream of an addict. The village is hostile to Indian tourists, preferring to open its arms to rich foreigners. The police will not let you travel here alone. "Malana crème contains 26 per cent THC (tetra hydro cannabinal oil) whereas the normal hashish contains just four per cent," says Narcotics Control Bureau Zonal Director Rakesh Goel, under whom the area falls. The THC content, he explains, measures the "strength" of a narcotic. The average hashish of Kullu contains almost 10 per cent THC, which "itself is higher than normal international hashish," he adds. SEIZURES by a weak, archaic police force will give you a rough idea of how flourishing, how simply huge, the drug trade is in Kullu. In the past 10 months, authorities have seized 127 kg of hashish, 83 grams of brown sugar, four kg of opium and seven kg of ganja. "This is almost five times more than what it was last year," says Venu Gopal, who took over as the superintendent of police in Kullu recently. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm this Indian Police Service officer of the 1995 batch shows does not get much support from his force by way of manpower or equipment. Also, the local populace is hostile to the police. In 1999 only 15 cases were registered under the NDPS Act. This year, it has already jumped to 34. On July 30, the police and NCB personnel seized 62 kg of hashish -- estimated to cost almost Rs 100 million in the international market -- from Faryari More village in the Banjar valley. Two villagers, Khub Ram and Ram Singh Tung, were arrested after a decoy struck a deal with them. Khub Ram was the panchayat pradhan of Mashiar village, which, the police say, is reflective of an emerging trend. "Some very influential locals are involved in this trade," reveals a district official. The arrest of Gupt Ram Thakur's family is a case in point. Thakur, his wife Jhumfi Devi, daughter Laxmi Thakur, son-in-law Ranjit Thakur and daughter-in-law Kartiki Devi have been jailed on the basis of that arrest. The police seized 36 kg of hashish from their houses during a raid on October 13, 1999: 15 kg was hidden in the residence of Laxmi and Ranjit where Thakur was also present. And 21 kg was recovered from his residence, from where his wife and daughter-in-law were arrested. "The arrests were based on immediate possession. So all of them were booked. His son was out of the house, so we could not book him," says Goel. The family, he adds, is in the upper income bracket. INVESTIGATIONS reveal that several criminals, including a few from south India, are setting up base in the region for narcotic trade. For them it is easy money. A kilo of hashish is available for anything between Rs 4,000 and Rs 10,000 in the villages. Once out of Kullu, it will fetch up to Rs 20,000. And when it crosses the Indian border, the prize would go up many times over. The district police reveal that they are watching a few 'outsiders', among them a south Indian. "He couldn't have made so much of money in such a short time except through drugs," officials say. On August 21, Deputy Superintendent of Police Kushal Sharma arrested Gopal Sen, 44, a resident of Kinnaur district. He was carrying four kilos of opium, worth over Rs 6 million in the international market. "We have noticed this trend of people from other parts of the country coming here to purchase drugs and retailing it outside Kullu," Sharma says. Amarjeet Singh Chawla, originally from Patiala had set up a shop near the Bhuntar airport. He was arrested in June for peddling narcotics. The shop was just a cover for him. When taken into custody he had some 2.5 kg of hashish with him. Local people and outsiders -- mostly Indians -- carry drugs from Kullu to destinations such as Goa, Bombay, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. In several cases, youths from Delhi, Punjab and Harayana have been arrested with hashish, says Goel. Though Indians are actively involved, it is the foreigners who are believed to be the key supporters of the trade. Indeed, it is they who sustain the trade, the police say. "It is their money and support that is making it flourish," says a police official. Investigations show that it is not just money that foreigners bring with them. The interrogation of Duni Chand, of Manikaran Gohar village, gives an inkling of how much the westerners are involved: Chand told the NCB that quality seeds for cultivation in several parts of Banjar valley are brought from Switzerland. ON TO PART 3 Come, meet Kullu's foreign godfathers Photographs: Josy Joseph Page design: Dominic Xavier Do mail us your comments Valley of Vice \| Part 1 \| Part 2 \| Part 3 \|Part 4 The Rediff Specials
HOME \| NEWS \| CRICKET \| MONEY \| SPORTS \| MOVIES \| CHAT \| BROADBAND \| TRAVEL ASTROLOGY \| NEWSLINKS \| BOOK SHOP \| MUSIC SHOP \| GIFT SHOP \| HOTEL BOOKINGS AIR/RAIL \| WEDDING \| ROMANCE \| WEATHER \| WOMEN \| E-CARDS \| EDUCATION HOMEPAGES \| FREE MESSENGER \| FREE EMAIL \| CONTESTS \| FEEDBACK