Imphal, Jan. 2 (IANS): The Manipur government has launched an all-out drive against large-scale illegal poppy cultivation in the mountainous areas of the state, officials said here on Sunday.
A senior Home Department official said that a total of 703 people including five chiefs of hill villages have been arrested and over 400 acres of poppy fields destroyed during the past six months.
Poppy cultivation is an easy source of income for a large number of people as it is used in producing many drugs including morphine.
The illegal poppy cultivation is mainly going on in six hill districts -- Ukhrul, Senapati, Kangpokpi, Kamjong, Churachandpur and Tengnoupal.
According to the official, around 18,000 acres of illicit poppy plantation were destroyed by various law enforcing agencies including the Manipur Police in between 2017 and 2022.
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, who recently announced alternative cultivation for the poppy cultivators, had said that poppy farmers who surrendered voluntarily would be exempted from police cases.
Appropriate legal action would be initiated against those encouraging and supporting the poppy cultivation.
"After the BJP government came to power for the second time in last year's (2022) February-March elections, the war on drugs has become a people's movement," Singh stated.
While efforts are continuing to destroy illegal poppy plantations in the state, the Chief Minister recently indicated that the issue is likely to be handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) if the case is hard to deal with.
Eastern Manipur's five districts shares around 400 km border with Myanmar with less than 10 per cent of its international border with Myanmar is fenced facilitating a safe transit route for illegal drugs trading to northeast India from 'Golden Triangle', the tri-junction of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand borders -- a hub of a thriving drugs peddling economy.
The state's geographical proximity to the 'Golden Triangle' and socio-economic-political situations are also coming in the way of the 'War against Drugs' - a campaign launched by the BJP-led government headed by Chief Minister N. Biren Singh.