This story is from May 11, 2021

Opium replacing cannabis? Cops destroy 5L poppy plants in Kullu

Opium replacing cannabis? Cops destroy 5L poppy plants in Kullu
Cases are being registered after checking land ownership records
Manali: Lakhs of plants of poppy, the source of narcotics like opium and heroin, are growing on terraced fields in Kullu mountains. As plants are ready to harvest, state police have started scanning suspicious areas and destroying the crop with sticks and sickle.
Over five lakh poppy plants have been destroyed in recent days and many persons booked under NDPS Act. The plants, including hybrid species, have been grown in remote areas.
Many have cultivated them in apple orchards or have mixed other crops with them. The crop is being destroyed after photography. Ownership of the land under illegal harvest is being established with the help of revenue department.
On Sunday, six teams of police destroyed 3,60,500 poppy plants on a 23-bigha piece of land. Based on a tip-off, police 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.
On Saturday, police destroyed poppy plants in Tinder area of Nirmand sub-division of Kullu, and booked Noop Ram (58) and Tej Ram (75). Police have also registered five cases for illegal cultivation of opium 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, “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 such crops are destroyed.” 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,” he added.
Kullu has been notorious for cultivation of hybrid cannabis to produce high-quality charas. Cultivation of many varieties of poppy is a new challenge.
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