CUTTACK: Crime Branch aims to utilize forthcoming panchayat elections to strengthen its intelligence network to combat cannabis cultivation menace in the state.“During the panchayat poll duties, officers of excise, police,forest and revenue departments will get an opportunity to visit many interior areas. The SPs of different districts and officers of concerned departments have been advised to utilize the opportunity to the fullest to develop rapport with locals and grassroots workers who can provide us timely information on cannabis cultivation,” said Special DG(Crime Branch), Bijay Kumar Sharma.Addressing a high level conference on "pro-active measures on prevention and destruction of cannabis" on Thursday at the crime branch headquarters here, Sharma expressed concern that due to lack of proper information crime branch is not able to weed out cannabis cultivation completely from the state.“Due to regular crackdown, cannabis cultivators are shifting to newer districts and venturing into inaccessible forest areas and dense hilly areas. So, intelligence collection on ganja growers has become a major problem,” said Sharma.Even though police and excise department have intensified crackdown on illegal cannabis cultivation in last few years, but the ganja growers are spreading their tentacles in newer areas.Earlier, ganja cultivation was rampant in Maoist affected areas like Angul, Deogarh, Sambalpur, Boudh, Kandhamal , Rayagada, Gajapati and Malkangiri, but now it is being grown in Cuttack and Nayagarh districts also, which has turned a cause of concern for authorities.Crime branch sources said cannabis is being grown in atleast 11 districts of the state.Another concern for enforcement agencies is that ganja traders from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal are financing cannabis cultivation and encouraging farmers to grow ganja illegally in the state.CB sources said some ganja traders from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal were arrested recently for financing farmers to grow lucrative ganja in Kandhamal.This year, atleast 234 persons have been arrested for growing ganja illegally while over 3000 acres of cannabis cultivation was destroyed in the state.The Crime branch plans to use technology like satellite imagery to identify the interior areas where ganja is grown and destroy the crop. SPs of the affected districts and officials of excise, forest , revenue had participated in the sensitization meeting.