Agartala, Jan 4 Security forces in Tripura, in two separate operations, have destroyed over 23 lakh ganja (marijuana) plants worth around Rs 108 crore in Tripura's Sepahijala district, officials said on Sunday.
A police official said that personnel of the Tripura Police, Tripura State Rifles (TSR), Border Security Force (BSF), Forest Department and Excise Department, in two separate operations, destroyed more than 23 lakh ganja plants spread over 414 acres of mountainous land in Sepahijala district.
"In the ongoing anti-narcotics drive, the illicit ganja plants were destroyed in the Anandapur and Ghatigarh forest areas of Sepahijala district over the past three days," the official said.
He said that during the same period, several lakh illicit ganja plants were also destroyed in other districts, including South Tripura and Khowai.
On December 27, TSR personnel, under the Unakoti district, conducted a special operation in the Kuli Basti forest area near Machmara Tea Garden and destroyed around 15,000 to 17,000 mature ganja plants spread across eight plots of land.
The anti-narcotics operations were led by the District Superintendent of Police or the Additional District Superintendent of Police.
Several people involved in illegal cultivation were arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
The police official said that dry ganja produced in Tripura is not consumed locally and is smuggled to various states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where it fetches a higher price.
During transportation, consignments of dry ganja are often seized from trucks and passenger trains. Residents, including women, claimed that they cultivate ganja in hilly and inaccessible areas as part of their livelihood.
The police official said it was found on many occasions that forest land and other government land had been encroached upon and illegally used for cannabis cultivation.
He added that the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, makes it illegal for any person to cultivate, possess, sell, buy or consume narcotic and psychotropic substances.
Violation of these provisions can attract heavy fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years, the official said.
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