8 poppy cultivators, 1 village chairman held
Source: The Sangai Express
Senapati, January 17 2023:
Police arrested 8 cultivators and a village chairman during a midnight raid at a poppy plantation site at Senapati district.
Police carried out the raid at the eastern hill range of Chalaha (Khabung Khunou) at around 1.30 am today.
The police personnel cordoned the area and arrested 8 cultivators, who were found inside temporary huts built near the poppy field.
The village chairman is identified as Johnson alias Tarzan while the other 8 arrested persons have been identified as Meelan Gole Tamang (29), S/o Lal Bir Gole Tamang of Irang Part-Il; Dashing Paksring Tamang (38), S/o Sedimang Tamang of Irang Part-II; Man Bahadur Tamang (53), S/o Pasuram Tamang of Irang Part-II; Kumar (39), S/ o Arka Bahadur of New Magiimai Maram; Krishna Kumar (33), S/o Pamka Bahadur of Khabung village; Pasang Tamang (50), S/o Tej Bahadur of Kanglatombi; Ajit Gole (29), S/o Som Bahadur of Irang Part-I and Som Bahadur (22), S/o Pakha Bahadur of Angkailongdi village.
Briefing the media, ML Kaishungbou, Additional Superintendent of Police Senapati district said, the raid was carried out in line with the Government's War on Drugs and to eradicate poppy cultivation in the district.
It was carried out under the supervision of Karthik Malladi, Superintendent of Police Senapati.
The police team reached the spot and cordoned off the area at around 1.30 am and found eight 'cultivators' in temporary huts built near the poppy field.
All of them were arrested in the operation.
They were growing poppy on about 60 acres of land, said the Additional SP.
The district police had destroyed poppy plantations on about 20 acres in the area on December 23 last and it had registered an FIR at the Senapati police station.
While looking out for the poppy cultivators, police had received information about their presence in the plantation site from reliable sources yesterday.
Accordingly, the raid was launched to arrest the cultivators, the police officer said, identifying the arrested persons.
The district police have been identifying and destroying poppy plantations in the district since 2019.As part of the Chief Minister's War on Drugs 2.0, the district police have destroyed acres of poppy fields.
Around 550 acres of poppies were detected during 2019-20 in the district.
In 2022, the district police destroyed around 330 acres of poppy in the district.
Targeting to transform Senapati into a poppy free district or achieve 'zero poppy', under the supervision of SP Karthik Malladi, the district police has been conducting multiple surveys with the assistance of the Sub-Divisional Officer, Forest personnel and other agencies.
Earlier, surveys had detected preparations to cultivate poppies in as many as 19 villages in the district.
The villages were warned of legal actions and accordingly, many had shunned and stopped poppy cultivation in their areas, said the officer.
The Additional SP further stated that reports of presence of poppy plantations in the hill range of Chalaha (Khabung Khunou) and Oklong village were received this year.
After detecting the poppy plantations, the district police destroyed around 7 acres of poppy at Oklong Range.
The police have identified the land owner.
Land owners at Chalaha (Khabung Khunou) have also been identified and investigation is on.
said the officer.