27 people involved in opium cultivation arrested in Palamu

EARLIER, POLICE HAD DESTROYED OVER 15 ACRES OF STANDING OPIUM CROP AT NAGAD VILLAGE UNDER MANATU POLICE STATION AREA

LATEHAR: In a major crackdown against illegal opium cultivation in remote areas, the Palamu police arrested 27 village residents, who allegedly connived with banned outfit Tritiya-Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TPC) to cultivate opium on forest land under Manatu police station area of the district.

The Manatu police station shares borders with Chatra in Jharkhand and Bihar and mostly remains inaccessible. The area also has significant presence of banned Maoist outfits--CPI (Maoists) and TPC.

This was the highest number of people arrested for illegal opium cultivation in a single day under one police station area. Police had earlier destroyed more than 15 acres of standing opium crop being grown on a stretch of forest land at Nagad village, a remote location under Manatu police station area.

Palamu superintendent of police (SP) Sanjeev Kumar said, “Those arrested connived with the TPC to grow opium on forest land in remote locations of Manatu area. They were all involved in cultivating the banned substance on 15 acres of forest land in Manatu police station area.”

“This is a major setback to TPC, that had enticed villagers into this illegal act by promising easy money,” the SP said.

During the special drive that lasted for more than 12 hours, the 27 arrested village residents involved in illegal cultivation were nabbed from Nagad, Badki Nagad, Dumari and Sikda villages. “Most of them already had cases related to opium cultivation pending against them,” a police officer said.