Agartala (Tripura) [India], January 30 (HBTV): In a major anti-narcotics operation, security forces destroyed large-scale illegal ganja cultivation spread across forest land in the Sonamura subdivision of Tripura on Wednesday.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, a joint team conducted raids and search operations from 7.45 am to 5.00 pm on January 29 in forest areas under Kamalanagar, Krishnadola, Dulunga and Bijoy Nagar. During the operation, security personnel detected and destroyed 41 ganja plantation plots.
Officials said around 1.80 lakh mature ganja plants were destroyed on the spot, with the estimated market value of the narcotic crop pegged at approximately INR 27 crore. The illegal cultivation was spread across nearly 65 acres of forest land, they added.
The joint operation was carried out by personnel from Sonamura Police Station along with the 81 Battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF), the 5th, 9th, 11th and 14th Battalions of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR), the 14th Battalion Women TSR, the 35 Battalion Assam Rifles and other sister security agencies.
The operation forms part of intensified efforts by law enforcement and security forces to curb illegal narcotics cultivation and protect forest land in the region.
Earlier this month, joint security forces destroyed a massive ganja plantation spread across forest land in the Kalamchoura region of Sepahijala district. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, the operation was conducted from 8.00 am to 4.30 pm in the North Kalamchoura, South Kalamchoura and Anandapur Ghatigarh areas, during which around 19 lakh premature ganja plants were uprooted and destroyed on the spot.
Officials said the illegal cultivation covered nearly 650 acres of forest land, with the market value of the destroyed ganja estimated at around INR 100 crore.
That operation was jointly conducted by Kalamchoura and Sonamura Police Stations, Bishramganj Police Station, BSF battalions 42, 43, 49, 69 and 81, TSR 7th, 9th, 11th, 14th and 14th Women Battalion, the Sonamura Sub-Divisional Forest Department, the District Civil Magistrate, Sonamura, and the Excise Department, Sepahijala, along with other sister agencies.
The operation was led by the Commandants of the 81 and 42 Battalions of the BSF, along with the Additional Superintendent of Police, Sepahijala, the SDPO, Sonamura, and the Deputy Superintendent of Police, DIB, Sepahijala. Senior officials termed the operation a significant achievement in the ongoing drive against narcotics cultivation and said such joint actions would continue to protect forest land and curb drug-related activities in the district. (ANI)