Agartala, Jan 5: Security forces in Tripura’s Sepahijala district destroyed around 19 lakh premature ganja plants, estimated to be worth nearly Rs 100 crore, during a massive anti-drug operation, police said on Sunday.
The day-long operation, described as the largest single-day crackdown on illegal cannabis cultivation in the state, was carried out jointly by the Tripura Police, Border Security Force (BSF) and Tripura State Rifles (TSR) on Saturday.
The drive covered nearly 650 acres of forest land across the North Kalamchoura, South Kalamchoura, Anandapur and Ghatigarh areas. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, a joint force of about 600 personnel was deployed to uproot and destroy the illegal plantations located in difficult and densely forested terrain.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Sepahijala district Rajib Sutradhar said law enforcement agencies are increasingly using drones to detect ganja cultivation in remote forest areas before launching coordinated operations.
“A total of around 19 lakh premature ganja plants worth approximately Rs 100 crore were destroyed during Saturday’s operation. The anti-cannabis drive will continue in the coming days,” Sutradhar said.
Sonamura police station officer-in-charge Tapan Das said local residents were involved in cultivating ganja on encroached forest land. However, no arrests have been made so far in connection with the operation. He added that this was the highest number of ganja plants destroyed in a single-day operation in Tripura.
According to police sources, processed ganja from such plantations is often smuggled to states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where it fetches a higher market price.
Authorities reiterated that similar large-scale operations would be intensified across vulnerable areas of the state as part of Tripura’s ongoing crackdown on illegal narcotics cultivation and trafficking.
