Manipur Police destroy 4,305 acres of illegal poppy cultivation

 IMPHAL: As part of the Manipur government’s ‘War Against Drugs’ mission, the Manipur Police have seized various drugs worth Rs 136.93 crore and destroyed 4305 acres of illegal poppy cultivation in 2022-23 fiscal, officials said on Monday.

According to a senior police official, Manipur Police have destroyed 787 acres of poppy cultivation in between January and March this year and the action has been continued to destroy more poppy plantations, mostly in hilly areas. The official said that from 2017-2022, various drugs worth Rs 317.97 crore were seized. These drugs had been smuggled from Myanmar, which shares around 400 km of unfenced border with Manipur.

Between 2017-2022, around 14,359 acres of poppy and 20 acres of cannabis cultivation were destroyed, the official said, adding that during this period, 1,960 persons, including 366 women were arrested with 720 persons, including 138 females arrested last year alone. In 2022, drugs worth Rs 122.78 crore were seized and 625 persons including 113 women arrested and 3,517 acres of poppy cultivation destroyed. The Manipur government also destroyed a total area of 212 acres of poppy cultivation by using drones and spraying herbicides in Kangpokpi, Chandel and Churachandpur districts.

The Manipur government has been claiming that various militant outfits have been supporting the poppy cultivators and instigating them against the state government, which has been taking action against illegal poppy cultivators, and destroying poppy fields in the forest lands, specially in the reserve and protected forests. On March 10, tribals organized protest rallies against the state government’s crackdown on poppy cultivation and encroachment of forest lands in three districts – Churachandpur, Kangpokpi and Tengnoupal - with the protests turning violent in some places.

The cultivators are getting poppy seeds, illegally smuggled from neighbouring Myanmar. Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh had said that the state government would not compromise on the steps taken to protect the state’s forest resources and for eradicating poppy cultivation and curbing drug menace and illegal trade. IANS

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