40 Acres of Illicit Poppy Cultivation Destroyed in Manipur’s Senapati District

Imphal: A joint operation by security forces and civil authorities led to the destruction of a large area of illicit poppy cultivation in Manipur’s Senapati district, police said on Friday.

According to Manipur Police, the action was carried out on January 9 at the Ngatan Hill Range under Senapati police station limits where around 40 acres of poppy fields were identified and destroyed.

The operation involved personnel from the security forces, the forest department and an executive magistrate.

"On 09.01.2026, a combined team of security forces, forest department along with executive magistrate destroyed about 40 acres of poppy field at Ngatan Hill Range, Senapati-PS, Senapati district," Manipur Police wrote on X.

Police also dismantled 11 makeshift huts found at the site and seized and destroyed items used for cultivation, including fertilisers, salt, irrigation pipes and spray pumps.

"11 (eleven) makeshift huts, fertilizers and salt, pipes for irrigation, spray pumps etc. found at the site were also destroyed," Police said.

A similar operation conducted, where Manipur Police, in coordination with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), destroyed poppy plantations spread over 53 acres in the hill ranges of Kangpokpi district.

The action was carried out on Wednesday by a joint team comprising Manipur Police, CRPF, the Forest Department and the NCB.

The illicit cultivation was found in the Moljol, Tusam, Vaichei-Naphai and adjoining areas, where the fields were uprooted and destroyed. Security personnel also dismantled temporary infrastructure used by cultivators, including seven makeshift huts.

Fertilisers, herbicides, salt and other materials used for growing poppy were seized and destroyed during the drive.

Officials said equipment such as spray pumps, irrigation pipes and chemicals recovered from the sites were also rendered unusable.

In a separate enforcement action, Manipur Police on Thursday destroyed 23 modified silencer pipes seized from motorbikes in Churachandpur over the past two days as part of a campaign against illegal vehicle modifications.

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