Sonepur: A joint team of police, forest and excise department officials on Wednesday destroyed an illegally cultivated opium poppy crop during a raid in a remote village under Ulunda police station limits in Subarnapur district. The accused farmer involved in the cultivation, however, managed to evade arrest.
The raid was carried out in Arakh Munda village under S. Patrapali gram panchayat following information received by the police about illegal poppy cultivation on forest land in the area.
During the operation, officials uprooted and destroyed the opium poppy plants that had been cultivated on less than half an acre of forest land. According to reports, a farmer from nearby Budhijharan village had allegedly been cultivating the illegal crop.
Police said they conducted a search to apprehend the accused after the raid, but he could not be traced. Authorities admitted that they had no prior intelligence inputs about the cultivation before the information surfaced.
Meanwhile, in connection with allegations that electricity supply had been extended to the farmland where the crop was grown, a person from Arakh Munda village has been brought to Ulunda police station for questioning.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
