The fight between two IPS officers in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh has opened a can of worms and senior officers now face allegations of aiding Ganja trade in the state. ASP Naveen Kumar last week made sensational allegations against SP Trivikram Varma saying that the SP tired to have him killed for investigating marijuana trade in the district. Naveen Kumar also alleged that the SP received kickbacks of over 1 Lakh for each load of marijuana being exported from the district.

The story began when a load of Ganja was caught in Warangal district. The district SP on investigating the matter found the load originated from East Godavari and informed Naveen Kumar who was the ASP there. Naveen too followed up on the matter and found out after interrogating accused smugglers that higher ups in the department and some others were involved in the smuggling. (These interviews are said to be videotapped.) This lead to a major dispute with the SP and the SP Trivikram Varma is said to have pressured Naveen to drop the investigation.

As the dispute heated up, Naveen’s vehicle met with an accident on August 25th when he was travelling from Kakinada to Rampachodavaram. This Naveen blieved was an attempt to kill him as the accident was caused because the bolts on the tires of his vehicle were removed causing the accident. He then tried to file an attempt to murder case against the SP but the police would not register the case. Frustrated, he held a press conference and announced the details of this investigation.

The issue is now being investigated by another senior officer and it is said the Top-brass of the police along with the Home minister are angry about how Naveen handled the investigation. Not very surprisingly, the AP Police now seems very keen to take action against Naveen Kumar for “indiscipline and insubordination” and not clean up the Ganja stink emerging from the force.