Manipur: Kangpokpi Villagers Destroy Poppy Plantations After CM's Warning

IMPHAL: According to sources, numerous villagers residing near the Phailengmol hill range in Kangpokpi district have destroyed their plants on sizable expanses of land during the past few days after chief minister N Biren Singh threatened strong action against illegal poppy production in the hill districts.

A few village heads in the Kuki-dominated district were detained last week in connection with poppy planting as part of the government's "War on Drugs" campaign. After the two village chiefs, who had been called in connection with poppy growing, escaped from their custody, two police officers from the district were also suspended for dereliction of duty.

The Phailengmol region, which is roughly 65 kilometers from Imphal, had civil bodies and village heads continuously urging residents not to engage in poppy farming. However, J Khongsai, a villager, claimed that some underprivileged villagers covertly grew the crop to make a living. In order to stop the illegal poppy trade, the police have now started looking for the village chiefs in the region, he added.

We have come out to destroy the poppy cultivation, he said, adding that the village chiefs have nothing to do with illegal cultivation. "We have come out to save the village chiefs and to support and join the ongoing 'War on Drugs' campaign of the state government," he said.

An official source reported that on Monday, a joint security team led by the SPs of the Imphal East district and Narcotics and Affairs of Border, a division of the Manipur police department, forest department, and BSF, destroyed about 30 acres of poppies that had been grown in the NP Khullen and B Gamnom hill ranges in the same district.

According to the reports, a united team destroyed the poppies and is currently working to apprehend those who grew them illegally. Additionally, a normal case has been opened for inquiry at the Thoubal Dam police station, according to them. In several Kangpokpi hill ranges, a recently enraged Biren had given the "final warning" to poppy growers.

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