Kullu-Manali attracts over 35 lakh domestic and foreigner tourists annually and not all are fascinated by the mountains, glaciers and rivers of the valley – some of them visit the Himalayan valley in search of “Malana Cream”, the world’s best charas.
Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal once said: “When I was giving my introduction to a representative of Israeli senate in an international conclave, he left me stunned with words that he has listened about Kasol in India where high class marijuana is available. He shared his thought that a large number of people in Israel after completing mandatory military services rush to Kasol in Kullu to relieve themselves by puffing marijuana.”
Over 98% of the tourists visit the valley to enjoy nature and adventure sports. Still, some tourists are reported to have visited the valley only for charas. Such tourists prefer staying in remote villages for a long time period. Police, who don’t want to put a negative impact on tourism, frequently lay nakas in such areas to search for the vehicles and pedestrians. As many as 161 foreigners have been booked under NDPS Act in last 15 years. The number of domestic tourists is even more.
This doesn’t mean that all tourists visit Kullu-Manali for charas. Majority of tourists, both Indian and Foreigners, do not know that charas is produced in Kullu and is available here. Some people here say though charas put negative impact on youth but it is helping in rise in tourist footfall.
A large number of local residents and politicians have been demanding to legalize cannabis cultivation, but fearing its misuse to make charas has forced lawmakers to make strict rules under NDPS Act.
High on charas, foreigners bring notoriety to land of gods
What attracts lakhs of backpackers from abroad to Kullu valley every year? The beautiful but rugged mountains of Himalayas, the serenity of Kullu valley or the flavour of Malana cream, nobody knows this. Every year many of them go missing, killed, murdered or arrested for many reasons which is still a big mystery.
Nearly 20 foreigners have been lost in the valley since 1992. None of them could be traced. Almost all of them went missing while trekking or in search of nirvana. Some died of drug overdose and some died while trekking. Reasons of death of some tourists could never be known. The search operation for some who went missing years back is still continuing.
What is the reason behind mysterious disappearance and killing of foreigners in Kullu Valley? According to owner of Negi’s Himalayan Adventure in Parvati valley, Chhape Ram Negi, who has been launching search and rescue operations for past twenty years, ignorance of exact route, straggling from the group, being high on hashish, lack of proper equipments and not hiring local guide are the main causes of them going missing or killing on the rough mountains of Kullu.
“Sometimes foreigners go trekking alone without a trained guide and gets deviate from the route. Narcotic intake could be another major reason. We have noticed that many tourists get deviate from the group and go missing forever. We have found many of them but others could not be traced till today. They may have lost forever,” he said.
Negi, who is familiar with every corner of the Indian Himalayas, said if some precautions are taken care of, the accidents can be minimized.
Some recent shocking cases like Italian national Galeno Orazie, who was staying in Malana without visa for last seven years and French national Mark Hamieau who was living in Kullu for last 30 years without having any travel documents, were pointing towards other possibilities. According to police, some foreigners might be escaping from them after visa expiry. Police hinted out that some of them were indulged in smuggling while few may be hidden and lured by cheap hashish in the valley.
What about the security of tourists from abroad?
Whether the tourist is domestic or from abroad, all are treated equally. According to the tourism department, Travel agents, guides, hoteliers and all those associated with tourism are being given training on hospitality and management. Lessons on ‘Atithi devo bhava’ (guests are gods) are being given to them. “All possible arrangements have been made at all tourist spots to provide them a secure environment. Foreigners are enjoying the friendly environment of Kullu-Manali but cannot comment on those indulged in anti-law activities. More and more foreigner tourists are coming to Kullu every year. One can see the presence of police everywhere. The extra police force is deployed during peak season. That makes them feel safe. People of the valley are also very friendly.”
Police said they have been advising foreign tourists, again and again, to hire the skilled guide before starting trekking; otherwise, they may go missing in the mountains. “We have eliminated the trend of full moon parties and now we are very close to root out the charas from the valley,” a police official said.
Cheating in drug trade: Not Malana Cream; Nepalese charas sells in Himachal
The increasing cases of chars seizure in Himachal, especially in Kullu, despite police and state government running several programmes to destroy the cannabis crops has left the agencies clueless for years.
After some Nepalese were arrested while smuggling charas consignment from Nepal to India to sell it in the name of “Malana Cream” in last few years, police fear that a large quantity of charas being supplied in the market may have been sourced from Nepal.
Sapna and Rani, both residents of Kapilvastu district of Nepal, were travelling from Nepal to Manikaran in Parvati valley of Kullu in a bus on July 26. Both had concealed 9.8kg of charas in plastic and wrapped it around their body. They were arrested by Kullu police. During custodial enquiry, the accused confessed that the charas was sourced from Nepal.
In a similar case, a Nepalese woman was arrested from Kasol after police recovered 9.08kg charas from her possession. There are many such cases where police and narcotics control bureau arrested smugglers who gave them clue that charas was brought to Himachal from Nepal. Ironically, there is possibility that many smugglers and peddlers are being duped by selling them cheap Nepalese charas in the name of Malana Cream.
Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh said there is possibility that a large quantity of charas available in the market or being smuggled does not belong to Kullu. “The area under cannabis cultivation in Kullu has decreased over the years due to strict law and police action. Police destroy cannabis from hundreds of bigha of land every year. The availability of charas in the market somewhere raises doubts that from where it is being sourced actually. Nepalese charas is also being smuggled to Kullu,” he said.
Kullu, especially Parvati valley is notorious worldwide for production of world’s best charas, a cannabis resin. The charas produced in Malana, known as Malana Cream, is the world’s most expensive charas which fetches Rs one lakh to Rs ten lakh for one kilogram. On the other hand, charas produced in Nepal is of inferior quality and is very cheap. The greed to earn easy money is encouraging Nepalese to smuggle charas from Nepal to Himachal, particularly, Kullu, to get a stamp of Malana Cream so that the contraband gets many-times high price in the market.
Gaurav Singh said people, charas peddlers and even police, may fail to detect the difference between Nepalese and local charas until examined in laboratory. “There is small difference in structure and appearance. Experts can detect the difference by just seeing or touching it. The charas produced in Kullu has high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. We are not just fighting with locally produced charas but also with the ones being smuggled from outside,” he added.
Kullu police have already started anti-cannabis and anti-drugs campaign in the district where at least one person is being arrested daily under NDPS Act. Police are laying frequent nakas at key places. District police chief himself is conducting recce in different places to get clues of the contraband. Meanwhile, police are organizing awareness programmes in villages and are encouraging people to help them in fighting the war against drugs. Police will soon restart its cannabis destruction campaigns in the district.
Malana man fights odds to weed out charas stigma
Makes jam with wild strawberry and sells in outer markets
In a corner of Malana village is a small house where an illiterate person is doing something which is going to be a golden chapter in the history of this village which otherwise is nestled in darkness of notoriety for production of charas — the Malana Cream.
Paras Ram is weaving dreams for better Malana after replacing the bitterness of charas with the sweetness of his unique jam which he processes from wild strawberry. Having failed to yield any crop from the fields at altitude of over 9,000ft and disappointed by cheap prices for peas, most of the Malana villagers see charas as only option to make money but Paras Ram has something else in his mind. He is the only businessman in village who sells farm products in Delhi and other markets.
“A foreign tourist who was staying in Malana taught me how to make jam with wild strawberry and how to use it for commercial purpose,” says Paras Ram, who got his first large purchase order from Delhi last season. Paras Ram collects strawberries from jungle, deploys labourers and sometime purchase it from other villagers at rate of Rs 100 per kilogram and prepares its jam only by adding some sugar to it. He fills it into 200 and 250 gram bottles and sells for Rs 250 each. “Foreign tourists are mad for my jam and are keen to pay over Rs 500 for a bottle.”
Demand for this “Malana Jam” is growing constantly but some small utensils, limited working hands of family, a small chulha and just one-month-long season for extraction of berries are not able to make all customers happy. “I’m a poor person. My customers pay whole money in advance to help me prepare jam. A hotel in Shimla has also given me advance money to prepare jams for them.” According to him, collecting tiny berries is not a work of few people, so he spends on hiring labourers. His jam is unique as he adds no preservatives and chemicals to it.
Paras Ram hardly speaks good Hindi and knows only Kulluvi and Kanashi language. He said he had tried hand on peas farming few years back but had to suffer losses worth Rs 25 thousands for cheap prices for it. “We were given Rs 6 per kg of the peas after carrying the product down to highway in lower Parvati valley. It was a big joke for growers who were looking at this crop as an option to charas,” he said.
“I found that not only my jam was tasty, it was good for digestion system and panacea to trigger appetite. The drawback is berries season last only for one month and I have little time to extract them and process them,” he explains.
He added that he got applause for his initiation from Kullu police and administration and many other families are also looking for optional business scopes here. Sources said Amlan Datta, maker of Bom, a renowned documentary on Malana, had first introduced the ways of making jams, pickles and sell them in outer markets during his visit to the village. Malana villagers have been alleging for years that government has failed to generate self employment in Malana and is destroying their only option of earning — cannabis cultivation.
“Let us live with charas or give livelihood options”
Having failed to generate income sources by trying hand at various options, the residents of Malana who are said to have mastered themselves in production of world’s best charas have started a mild agitation for their rights.
“Let us produce charas and let us live with notoriety. We are ready to face any legal action. We shall continue this trade for our survival. We are helpless and are ready to go jail,” a Malana resident Lal Chand said while showing the cannabis plants that are growing wild around the village. “Police, government and entire world call Malana the village of smugglers. But do any of them know that we are neglected as if we are not the part of our own country. And if we stop producing charas, we will starve and we will not be able to pay school fees for our children.”
When charas was the subject, at least 50 villagers, came forward to give their opinion close to Jamlu Devta’s temple. Mangal Ram, one of them, shouts “Every year police come and destroy our cannabis fields. We watch all this helplessly. Government has done all possible to bring notoriety to our beautiful village. But nobody came here to share our pain. We need money for school fees, ration, electricity bills, mobile connection, clothes, shoes and everything required to live. Did anybody offer us alternate option to earn money?”
When asked about dependence of village on charas for their livelihood, the villagers said 100 per cent of them are directly or indirectly linked to cannabis cultivation, helplessly. “We know charas has become stigma for our religious village. Whenever we gather for any function in the village, we talk about this issue and everybody makes unanimous consent on giving up charas trade if government comes up with other honest option to earn money,” another resident Ganga Ram said.
Villagers, fearlessly, showed some of the cannabis fields near the village and said many Malana residents, including women, are jailed in Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal and other states after charas was recovered from their possession. Hari Chand, one of the intellectuals of the village, said, “This process of cannabis production, destruction by police and arrests will continue till the end of the time. Police will follow their law. Government will continue making policy. NGOs will keep earning money on the name of helping Malana people live a better life. But nobody will find a middle path and frame policy to replace charas slowly by other options.”
Villagers blamed that government and administration have fooled them in the name of giving facilities. They blamed hydel project managements in the vicinity of the area for showing them dreams of development and giving employment. They also alleged that a social worker made them fool by convincing them to grow peas and earn good money but later their produce was bought for Rs 3 per kilogram. The villagers have very less agriculture land and available land too is not worth cultivating vegetable. Being situated on high altitude where snow covers the land for half of the year, only one crop a year is possible in Malana.
Anti-drugs drive force diminish traditional cuisines in Kullu
After cannabis, Kullu has gained notoriety in cultivation of poppy. Police and anti-narcotic agencies have initiated drives to eradicate both cannabis and poppy from Kullu but indirectly the anti-drugs drives have resulted in extinction of many traditional recipes of the district.
People of Kullu have been cultivating poppy to obtain its seeds which are used to prepare a variety of cuisines including famous Kullu “siddu”. As the authorities have imposed ban on production of poppy which can be used to produce opium, brown sugar and heroin, farmers have left its production. A large number of people have been booked in last few years for cultivation of poppy and the anti-poppy drive is still continued. This strict action has led to disappearance of poppy seeds from the kitchens and people are missing the fragrance of its cuisines.
According to police, they are committed to eradicate cannabis and opium from entire district as both are being used to prepare contraband drugs. Himachal government has also started some statewide cannabis destruction campaigns in recent years. Authorities know that plants of cannabis and poppy are used by people to cook local dishes and prepare many household things like ropes and slippers. But its misuse by drug mafia has made them destruct all available plants to minimize possibility of making drugs out of it.
“Everybody used to grow some poppy to get its seeds which are edible. We use it to prepare siddu, parantha, femada and many other items. As police is taking strict action, everybody is afraid of cultivating poppy,” said a farmer from Bhuntar. Police in recent years have booked owners of private land where poppy plants were found cultivated. Sources said that area under poppy and cannabis cultivation in Kullu has reduced over the years.
Another farmer from Barshaini village said, “Now nobody cultivates poppy to get its seeds to prepare cuisines. I think some people are into its production only to prepare drugs. Honest people too fear police action as it is very difficult to convince police that the crop is only to produce edible seeds.”
Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungry and Spain are the top producers of poppy seeds. The small seeds are used as condiment to prepare variety of sweet and salty cuisines. People in Kullu, where seeds are not available, have replaced poppy seeds by other items like nuts of peach and walnuts.
Drug trade put 161 foreigners behind the bars in Kullu
The greed of making easy money by supplying drugs to tourists, selling to youth or smuggling to other states and countries has destroyed many families in Kullu. 161 foreigners arrested under NDPS Act in last 15 years have also contributed in earning notoriety to Kullu.
The cannabis cultivation season has started on the hills. Police claim that its cannabis destruction campaigns have controlled the cultivation in district but the police accept that cultivation is still continuing. Increasing cases of recovery of synthetic drugs are new challenge before police which keep making new strategy to finish the menace.
Kullu police have arrested 1,936 persons in 1,798 cases for possession of drugs from January 2003 to March 2018. Of the arrested persons, 161 are foreigners. Most of the foreigners are from Italy, US, UK, France, Israel and Nigeria. In almost all cases, they had come on tourist visa and were carrying drugs. Many of them have been convicted and some were deported. In some cases the accused were also charged with visa overstay.
Police said six arrested accused were minors and 78 were women. “Most cases were registered for possession of charas and some cases were registered for possession of drugs like brown sugar, cocaine, heroin, LSD and MDM. The main thing of concern is increasing cases of synthetic drugs. Synthetic drug is being supplied in small quantities to the tourist places. We have arrested some kingpins and some more are under our radar,” a police officer said.
Sources said that foreigners encouraged people in Kullu to cultivate cannabis to produce charas decades back. They targeted the illiterate, unemployed and poor people in remote villages. According to sources, there were some foreigners who used to fund the locals to produce charas and were taking consignments out of the state themselves. The easy money coming from trade lured more people to adopt this practice. Police keep an eye on the foreigners who stay in villages and sometime in huts in isolated areas, away from civilization. Despite being strict on drug trade, peddlers and smugglers, police are struggling to root out the disease from Kullu.
“All police stations and posts have been directed to increase the nakas and patrols to clean up the mess from district,” police official said, adding that police are taking help of technology to identify the land under cannabis cultivation. “Police are destroying cannabis crop every year. We are taking help from locals as well. The cultivation is decreasing every year. We are now educating people that how drugs destroy future of youth and how it ruins the families if somebody is caught indulged in this illegal trade.”
Police seek local cooperation to fight drug menace
In an effort to completely root out the menace of drug, liquor, gambling and other crimes from Kullu, the district police have started a campaign “Sahbhagita – Hamari aur Apki”, where police are seeking cooperation from local residents and are educating them to fight the social evils that have broughtnotoriety to district.
Considering that making Kullu drugs free is not possible without local cooperation, the police officials are reaching out to the villagers, especially in charas affected areas, and are requesting people to help stop charas to destroy the young generations. The villagers are being convinced to be part of the social cause and control illegal selling or buying of liquor, cultivation of cannabis and poppy, gambling and other crimes. For this, police are conducting workshops in villages one by one.
Police said, “Catching criminals and putting them behind the bars is not a permanent solution. But we have to educate the people and make them responsible to get long term results. We are also educating people with help of street plays. We are requesting people to connect with police and this campaign socially. We are happy that the panchayats have started taking strict steps in this regard which has encouraged us to continue the campaign.”
Charas production and its smuggling is the main challenge before Kullu police. Increasing cases of smuggling of synthetic drugs into district and supplying them to tourists is another challenge. Many villagers are into cannabis cultivation while many others smuggle it to other states to get good prices. The police are seeking cooperation from the villagers to control cannabis cultivation and stop drug smuggling by social awareness and helping police by providing vital information about the smugglers.
Updated on May 10, 2021
Cops destroy opium poppy growing illegally in Kullu hills
Lakhs of plants of opium poppy, the source of many contraband drugs, are growing on the terraced fields in mountains of Kullu amid pandemic. As plants are ready to harvest, cops have started scanning the suspicious areas and are destroying the crop with sticks and sickle.
Over five lakh opium poppy plants have been destroyed by the cops in recent days and many people have been booked under NDPS Act for cultivation o illegal crop. The plants, including hybrid species, have been grown mostly in the remote areas. Many people have cultivated them in apple orchards or have mixed other crops with them. Police have started combing the suspicious areas and the crop is being destroyed after photography. The ownership of the land under illegal harvest is being established with help of revenue department.
On Sunday, six teams of police destroyed 3,60,500 poppy plants from 23 bigha of land including poppy bulbs. Based on tip off, the teams raided Khadangcha, Gauhar, Daran, Majharna and other villages in Sainj valley of Kullu and registered six cases. The owners of the land will be booked after getting ownership details from revenue department.
On Saturday, police destroyed poppy plants in Tinder area of Nirmand sub-division of Kullu and booked Noop Ram, 58 and Tej Ram, 75 for cultivation of the illegal crop. Police have also registered five cases of illegal cultivation of opium poppy on 18 bigha of land in Sainj area of Kullu. A police team raided Bhithu Kanda region in upper Sainj where poppy flowers were growing in a vast area below the mountain. Cops booked Hukmi Ram, Thakur Dass, Kishori Lal, Ameer Chand and Shyam Singh and destroyed 1.45 lakh poppy plants found in their fields.
Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh said police teams are raiding different areas based on secret information and are also combing the remote areas for illegal crops. “The teams take photographs of the fields and establish the ownership of the land with help of concerned patwari. The entire crop is destroyed along with the poppy bulbs. Our campaign will continue until all the crops are not destroyed,” he said.
According to the SP, poppy bulbs in some of the fields had cut marks which are generally visible when the white resin is collected to make drugs. “The samples of the plants with cut marks on bulbs have been preserved for further investigation.”
Kullu has been notorious for cultivation of hybrid cannabis to produce high-quality charas. Cultivation of many varieties of opium poppy is a new challenge before the police in the last few years. Opium, heroin, morphine and codeine are some of the products derived from poppy bulbs. The growers make cut mark on the bulbs and collect the milky latex that comes out from the cuts. While poppy has been a traditional crop of Kullu as many traditional cuisines are made of it, but its illegal use has made the government put a complete ban on its cultivation.
Updated on February 5, 2021
Revealed! How African mafia supply drugs to Himachal and other states
17 major African drug mafia living in Delhi without valid travel documents who used to supply heroin to Himachal and other states have been arrested in recent times – and counting. The police investigation has revealed how the mafia was procuring pure heroin and selling it after adulterating it by adding other cheaper drugs.
A nine-member special team of Kullu police on Wednesday arrested a 38-year-old African national from Delhi and recovered 6.297 kg of pure heroin from his possession after a 46 hours operation. This is the largest ever seizure of synthetic drugs by Himachal police which has a value of over Rs 30cr in international market. The accused was produced before the court in Kullu on Friday and has been remanded to police custody for five days.
Kullu police has arrested 23 foreigner nationals involved in illegal drug trade since July 2019 and 17 of them are Africans. 14 Africans accused of drug trade are still in jail in Kullu. The common thing about the accused is that they were running the racket from Delhi where they were staying for a long time without valid passport or visa. The accused used to source pure heroin from Afghanistan or other areas and then used to add other substances before supplying them to other peddlers.
“This accused also had no valid travel document. He was running a huge racket in the country and was involved in illegal job for years from Delhi. He only deals in large quantities but never goes out for delivery or networking. He supplies over 10kg heroin every month. His gang has supplied heroin to hundreds of people in Himachal,” Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh said.
Kullu police have arrested a large number of chitta peddlers in the recent time. Police are working on the backward tracing of the contraband and almost in all the cases contraband was sourced from Delhi. Cops, with help of technology and Delhi police, are establishing the exact locations of the main suppliers and are arresting them one by one. According to police, many more arrests are likely soon.
In this particular case, where police recovered fine pure heroin in such a large quantity from the flat of the African national, police got to know that the main supplier was not selling pure heroin but was adding other drugs to the heroin. “They add other drugs and substances in a 1:10 ratio where pure heroin is only one part. Then they supply it to other peddlers who sell it in other states,” the SP said.
According to police, 14 major chitta suppliers have been sent behind the bars in Kullu but many more suppliers are still active in Delhi. The investigation with arrested Africans and other peddlers are continuing and cops have got some more leads.
SP Gaurav Singh adds, “In combined interrogation of all the arrested foreigner drug suppliers it was revealed that all major chitta suppliers are based in Delhi and their activities are also based in Delhi and nearby areas. The main suppliers do not go out for delivery and do not come in direct contact with this whole network. This is the reason that when police trace back the network of the drug suppliers, reaching the main supplier is not easy. However, we have now intruded into the African mafia’s fort.”
A large network of small and large number scale smugglers and peddlers work under the African suppliers. Most of the peddlers bring and sell the chitta in small quantities. Police now know how this network works and how African suppliers are working from their safe havens where they are generally living illegally without having legal travel documents.
Updated on August 08, 2019
Kullu police launch operation to finish “cannabis terrorism”
The police jawan in Kullu are hiking the treacherous mountains, combing the remote areas to locate and destroy the cannabis crops before the mafia extracts charas from the plants.
As the charas harvesting season is nearing, Kullu police have launched district-wide cannabis destruction operations. Four police reserves have been roped in for effective execution of the operations. The teams have headed to the targeted areas on Thursday. The police have already made some attack points which are worst affected by cannabis. Besides Malana, teams have headed to Manikaran, Kasol, Tosh, Nathan, Pulga, Kalga, Thach, Pini, Fozal, Sainj, Banjar, Anni, Nirmand and Brow.
Kullu police chief Gaurav Singh said the police have launched the campaign to root out cannabis from district from Thursday. “Teams of central bureau of narcotics, nasha nivaran samitis, sahbhagita hamari aur apki, yuvak mandals and some other local organizations are already continuing the campaign since July 6. The campaigns will be intensified in coming days. Our only motive is to destroy all the cannabis so that its misuse to make charas and other narcotics can be stopped,” he said.
Police and narcotics control bureau have already identified some areas under cannabis plants while others are being searched by the police teams. The teams destroy the plants with help of sticks, hands, sickle or any available instrument. They camp in remote areas inside forest land. Sometime teams hike for one or two full days to reach the crop. There is always chance of oppose from growers in some areas, so the teams remain equipped for self protection.
Kullu, especially Malana, is notorious worldwide for production of world’s best charas due to its high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. The cannabis destruction operations in Kullu started from Malana village since 1996-97. Over 10,000 bigha land was under cannabis cultivation in mid-90s which had reduced to nearly 7,000 bigha in 2012. The area under cannabis cultivation is decreasing every year due to police campaigns. Majority of cannabis is grown on forest land and charas mafia keep preparing new fields deep inside forest area.
“We can control charas production only if we check cannabis cultivation. We are requesting panchayat representatives to take the campaigns to village level and involve mahila mandals, yuvak mandals and residents to destroy cannabis in their area,” the SP said, adding that there is no doubt that charas production in Kullu has reduced very much in last few years but smuggling of charas from Nepal and other areas to Kullu to get stamp of “Malana Cream” was another challenge before police.
Holland, where government gives liberty to cultivate and use cannabis to a certain limit, is blamed for introduction of charas in Kullu. Few decades back when tourism started growing in Kullu and foregners started visiting Parvati valley, a foreigner, who found local environment good for cannabis production, allegedly brought hybrid seeds from Holland. The foreigners taught some poor families the procedure of cultivation and collection of resin from cannabis leaves. In Kullu, charas is produced by rubbing cannabis leaves in the month of September and October.
Continue reading about Malana Cream…
Updated on November 03, 2019
31 arrested as police raid charas smugglers’ camps in remote forest
In a late-night raid on charas mafia in the remote forest area of Parvati valley of Kullu district, a team of 29 cops has arrested 31 persons including 12 Nepalese who were engaged in the extraction of charas from hybrid cannabis plants. The raid involving the biggest number of arrests ever made under the NDPS Act in Himachal lasted for 17 hours.
The raid was conducted at Pinsu Tach above Pini village of Parvati valley after a thorough survey of the area. Police had to climb the steep terrain for 6 hours in the night time to reach the target where accused were camping to produce the charas. Police have recovered 2.9kg charas, 12 live cartridges, nearly one quintal cannabis seeds, an axe, some sharp cutting tools and over 150 plastic rappers that were to be used to pack charas. Over 5,000 cannabis plants were also found cultivated which are being destroyed.
Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh told the media on Sunday that a special team of 29 cops has been formed to eradicate charas, hashish oil, ganja and other products of cannabis from its source. “The team was carrying out recce of different parts of Kullu to get information about the areas where high quality charas is being produced and to study the methods of extraction and ferrying of charas. The team discovered that charas mafia is active in Pini area of Parvati valley and Jana in Kullu. Led by inspector Suneel Shankhyan, the team including two women, planned to raid the remote area above Pini village on Friday late night,” he said.
The team started at 1am, drove for two hours and climbed for 6 hours at 3am with help of torches. “The team reached the remote area where Nepalese had pitched 11 tents. They were engaged in extraction of charas, hashish oil and ganja. Cops in different groups raided all the tents simultaneously and recovered the contraband and other material. The 12 live cartridges were also found but a 12 bore gun is still to be recovered. All 31 accused, including 5 women, have been arrested. Four cases under section 8, 20 of NDPS Act have been registered while a case under Arms Act has also been registered,” the SP said.
The 19 accused are residents of Pini area. Poshu Ram, a resident of Pini village, used to visit the area every second day to collect extracted charas from eight Nepaleses who were working on daily wages of Rs 500 each. Police said 12 live cartridges were recovered from Sonu, a local resident, who has given his 12 bore gun to a shepherd.
The SP added that police investigation revealed that the accused were staying in different tents for last few days where they used to prepare charas from illegally cultivated cannabis besides its packaging and transportation. “Starting at 1am and ending at 6pm on Saturday, the raid lasted for 17 hours.”
Besides this case, Kullu police have arrested seven persons in last four days (Oct 31 to Nov 03) in seven different cases under NDPS Act. Two of the accused told police that they had extracted the charas themselves in jungle and were going to sell it. This is the end of the charas extraction season and police are laying frequent nakas in the district.
Continue reading about Malana Cream…
Updated on December 28, 2019
Nepalese women smuggle 15kg charas from Nepal to Parvati valley to get “Malana cream” tag, held
Two Nepalese women who were trying to smuggle 15.4kg charas from Nepal to Parvati valley of Kullu to get a fake “Malana cream” tag to sell the contraband at higher prices were arrested on Saturday early morning, police said.
This is the biggest charas seizure of the year in Kullu district which is infamous worldwide for production of world’s best charas (Malana Cream). Similar to many other smugglers, both the women wanted to sell the cheap Nepali charas in the name of Malana cream to fetch better prices.
Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh said, “A team of police post Manikaran in Parvati valley led by ASI Bhoop Singh was working on a secret information that two Nepalese women are trying to smuggle a large quantity of charas from Napal to Parvati valley. Both the ladies were put on surveillance. They started from Haridwar and reached Bhuntar in the night time on Friday. They hired a taxi for Rs 1,000 from Bhuntar to Kasol. Police had laid at Punjabi Chulha near Manikaran at 1:45am where the team intercepted the vehicle and recovered 15.402kg charas from their possession.”
The charas was concealed in small packets and women had draped them around their body. The taxi driver was not found involved in the smuggling. Police investigation revealed that the consignment was to be sold in Kasol.
A total of 10.190kg charas was recovered from Shreya Thapa Magar, 26, and 5.212kg charas was recovered from Vishnu Kala, 32. Both accused are resident of Kapilvastu, Lumbini, Nepal. The SP said that a case under section 20, 25 NDPS has been registered and further investigation is underway.
According to police sources, a large quantity of charas being sold in the name of Malana cream is actually sourced from Nepal. The charas produced in Nepal is of cheap quality and is available for low prices. The Nepalese, to get its higher prices, smuggle it to Parvati valley of Kullu and sell it in the name of local charas to fetch high prices.
The cheating in charas trade is a new challenge before Kullu police. The police are not worried for the quality of the charas but the contraband being smuggled into the district from other places. In effort to stop charas production, police are destroying cannabis crop and taking legal action against the growers. This year, police registered 18 cases of illegal cultivation of charas and poppy in private land and have booked 9 persons. Police seized property worth Rs 30 lakh of three charas and chitta suppliers. Despite drop in local charas production, the charas is easily available and police suspect that it is sourced from other places, particularly from Nepal. Over 107kg charas has been recovered in different cases this year.
Continue reading about Malana Cream…
Updated on June 11, 2020
One held with 42kg charas, largest quantity in 17 years
Breaking the backbone of charas mafia in Kullu, the district police on Thursday morning recovered 42.05kg charas from a pickup truck at Fagu bridge in Banjar sub-division of Kullu district.
This is the largest charas seizure in last 17 years in Kullu district, the place notorious for cultivation of the world’s best and expensive charas. According to police, a team led by head constable Jagdish stopped a pickup truck (HP41-0675) for checking at Fagu bridge early morning. Cops recovered charas concealed in the truck that was weighing 42.05kg. The contraband is worth over Rs 53 lakh in local market but its value can be manifold in other states while it’s worth crores of rupees in international market.
Kullu superintendent o police Gaurav Singh said this is the largest quantity of the charas that has been recovered in a case in last 17 years. “Driver, identified as Leeladhar, 35, resident of Rewalsar in Mandi district, has been arrested. Police are investigating the source and the destination of the huge consignment,” he said.
There has been many cases in the past that people smuggle cheap charas from Nepal or other states to Kullu to get a stamp of “Malana Cream” on the charas to sell it at higher cost. Police were investigating whether the charas was sourced from local cultivators or was brought from outside Himachal.
The SP added that district police has seized 218kg charas which include 44 cases of commercial quantities and freezed disproportionate properties of charas mafia worth Rs 1.34cr since July 2019. “During this period, the major seizure include 15.04kg charas from a Napalese by Manikaran police on December 2019, 11.8kg charas recovered from a priest in Banjar in February this year, 9.8kg charas recovered from two Nepalese in Bhuntar in July 2019,” he said.
प्रिय साथियों,
बंजार पुलिस थाना की टीम ने एक आरोपी से 42.05 किलो चरस बरामद की है जो पिछले 17 सालों में बरामद चरस की सबसे बड़ी खेप है।इसी के साथ कुल्लू पुलिस ने जुलाई 2019 से लेकर अब तक करीब 218 किलो चरस बरामद कर कई आरोपियों की 1 करोड़ 34 लाख की संपत्ति भी जब्त की है।
धन्यवाद।— Kullu Police (@PoliceKullu) June 11, 2020
Although cases of charas smuggling in Himachal have witnessed a sharp dip during lockdown period as suppliers felt helpless in interstate movement. Tourists used to be the major consumer of charas in Himachal, but this demand stopped suddenly after ban on tourism since March. Small charas peddlers are still active in the district but nobody had expected such a large quantity in a single case during Covid-19 crisis.
Kullu police has also launched an operation to destroy the cannabis and poppy plants. Despite running several awareness campaigns and booking the residents for cultivation of contraband plants, many people have continued its farming. Sources said that hybrid cannabis has been cultivated on hundreds of bigha of both private and forest land during lockdown period. Police are now reaching to the cannabis fields to destroy them. The cannabis will be ready to extract charas in August-September.
Top 10 charas seizures between July 2019 and June 11, 2020
42.05 KG Charas-PS Banjar
15.402 KG Charas-PP Mnikrn
11.876 KG Charas- PS Banjar
9.875 KG Charas- PS Bhuntar
8.129 KG Charas- PS Bhuntar
8.076 KG Charas- PS Banjar
5.679 KG Charas- PS Bhuntar
5.382 KG Charas- PS Kullu
5.150 KG Charas- PS Banjar
5 KG Charas- PS Patlikuhal
**PS = Police Station, PP = Police Post
Updated on September 28, 2020
Shortage of Nepalese labourers hits charas production in Kullu
The acute shortage of Nepalese workers this year has badly hit the charas mafia as charas production is underway with a limited number of people amid peak harvesting season, police said.
The charas harvesting season has begun in Kullu. Although cops destroyed lakhs of cannabis plants from hundreds of bigha of private and forest land, the mafia has managed to hide their remotely located crops where harvesting has begun. Police are getting secret information about the harvest. Generally, charas harvesting is done by local people with help of Nepalese labourers. The daily wagers rub the cannabis leaves with palms to collect the resin. Covid-19 imposed lockdown and India-Nepal conflict had resulted in a sharp drop in Nepalese heading to the country this year.
Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh said charas producers have become active these days as the harvesting season has started. “We are on alert. In continuation of our anti-cannabis drive, a special team of 25 cops are patrolling the different places to collect inputs on similar illegal activities. A team climbed a narrow steep hilly terrain from Badogi village for three hours and reached a place named Khodu-Thach in the night time where cannabis was grown after preparing many small fields in the jungle area. A few people were caught rubbing the cannabis leaves to collect charas,” he said.
The SP said that four persons have been arrested red-handed. He said it was revealed by the accused that cannabis was cultivated by a resident of Chahugi village who had hired six persons including two Nepalese to harvest charas out of it by paying them Rs 500 as daily wages.
“We have booked seven persons under section 8, 20, 29, 27A of NDPS Act. The area had nearly one lakh cannabis plants that were nearly 12ft in height. In a similar case, Kullu police had raided Pinsu Thach last year and arrested 31 people red-handed. A fewer Nepalese are available due to Covid-19 this year. So smugglers are harvesting charas themselves. We have also requested residents to inform police if they notice charas harvesting anywhere and we shall keep the information confidential,” the SP said.
Charas producers were active in cannabis cultivation during lockdown between March and May this year. The cannabis, including hybrid plants, is mostly cultivated in remote high altitude forest areas to protect harvest from the cops and forest guards. Every year police launch campaigns to identify and destroy the cannabis fields. Despite this, some fields are left untraced and smugglers harvest charas out of it in September and October. The freshly produced high-quality charas is then smuggled to other areas and is sold as the world’s most expensive charas. Most of the charas produced in Kullu is sold under level “Malana Cream” to fetch better prices.
What is Malana Cream?
The Charas produced in Parvati Valley of Kullu, particularly in Malana village and its surroundings, is better known as “Malana Cream”. As the charas produced from the cannabis grown in the valley has high tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, it is considered the world’s best charas and is also the most expensive charas.
How old is cannabis production in Himachal/Kullu?
Cannabis is growing wild in Himachal for centuries. Cannabis used to be the essential part of kitchen garden in front of each house of Kullu decades back. The people then had no clue about its psychotropic properties and commercial use. They used to cultivate it to make ropes, shoes and other products. The hemp of the cannabis was used to make cloths. People slowly got to know about its seeds which had medicinal properties and were used to cook several cuisines and “chatni”.
How hybrid cannabis entered Kullu?
Europeans have been cultivating cannabis for decades. Holland, where government gives liberty to cultivate and use cannabis to a certain extent, is blamed for introduction of charas in Kullu. Few decades back when tourism started growing in Kullu and foreigner tourists started visiting Parvati valley, a foreigner who found the environment good for cannabis production brought hybrid seeds from Holland.
How Kullu became an international hub of contraband charas?
A few poor residents of Parvati valley were lured by foreigners to sow the Holland seeds and produce cannabis in their fields. Then they taught them the procedure of extracting resin from leaves to make charas. The charas was not sold domestically but was bought by foreigners at cheaper prices. Kullu had not much employment options and most people were illiterate having no knowledge of the impact of charas on society. The easy money from charas trade motivated other families to adopt this profession. Meanwhile, more foreigners got to know about the successful charas production in Kullu valley and they started visiting the valley for trade and to hire more people. Foreigners discovered that the quality of charas grown in Parvati valley was much better than that of Europe. It was an Italian national who started residing with people of Malana, who otherwise do not accept the presence of outsiders, and he taught them many techniques of charas production. Many years later the security agencies had arrested him under the Foreigner Act. Till now, Parvati valley, particularly Malana, had become an international hub of “World’s Best Charas”. The charas is now famous worldwide with its name Malana Cream.
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