Police destroy poppy cultivation on 16 acres in Latehar

Daltonganj: Herhunj police in Latehar district have destroyed poppy vegetation on 16 acres of forest land between Ichak and Dorang on Monday. The officer-in-charge of the Herhunj police station, Krishnapal Singh Pavaiya, on Tuesday said that five tractors were pressed into the job.“It took five hours to destroy the illicit crops,” he said. The site was discovered with the help of drones and human input.Herhunj has a deep-seated notoriety for extremism, which is down but not completely out, said police sources. “We have procured a rotavator. It will pull out the vegetation of poppy from the root," said Pavaiya. Poppy that is grown clandestinely in Palamu and Latehar districts is annual poppy.Since the poppy destroyed by the Herhunj police was in a vegetative condition, no case under the NDPS Act is formed. Sources said the police are asking the forest personnel to lodge a forest case under sections of the Indian Forest Act for the destruction of jungles, herbs, and shrubs for growing illicit crops. Pavaiya said, "In consultation with the forest personnel, we are working on the modalities of the case against unknown growers.

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