Agartala, Jan 4: In a major crackdown on illegal narcotics cultivation, security forces in Tripura have destroyed over 23 lakh ganja (marijuana) plants valued at approximately Rs 108 crore in two separate operations in Sepahijala district, officials said on Sunday.
A senior police official stated that the joint operations were carried out by personnel from the Tripura Police, Tripura State Rifles (TSR), Border Security Force (BSF), Forest Department, and the Excise Department. The destroyed ganja plants were spread across nearly 414 acres of forested and mountainous land in the Anandapur and Ghatigarh forest areas of Sepahijala district. The operations were conducted over the past three days as part of an ongoing anti-narcotics अभियान in the state.
The official added that similar drives were also carried out in other districts during the same period. Several lakh ganja plants were destroyed in South Tripura and Khowai districts, highlighting the scale of illegal cannabis cultivation across the state.
Earlier, on December 27, TSR personnel under Unakoti district conducted a special operation in the Kuli Basti forest area near Machmara Tea Garden. During that drive, around 15,000 to 17,000 mature ganja plants growing across eight separate plots of land were uprooted and destroyed.
The anti-narcotics operations were supervised and led by the District Superintendent of Police or the Additional District Superintendent of Police in the respective districts. Several individuals involved in the illegal cultivation of ganja were arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
According to the police, dry ganja produced in Tripura is not consumed locally but is smuggled to other states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where it fetches higher market prices. Law enforcement agencies frequently seize consignments of ganja from trucks and passenger trains during transit.
The official further noted that forest land and other government land are often encroached upon for illegal cultivation. Under the NDPS Act, the cultivation, possession, sale, purchase, or consumption of narcotic substances is a punishable offence, attracting stringent penalties, including heavy fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years.
