THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Nov 8: In a major preemptive strike, a joint team of forest personnel and cops of the Manatu police station, on Saturday, destroyed a hideout of the illicit poppy cultivators at Tandwa forest, which is 17 kms away from the nearest police station Manatu, and is at the border with Naudeeha Bazar police station.
Officer in charge of the Manatu police station, Nirmal Oraon, said, ” We got a tip off about tentage and people pitching at Tandwa forest land expressly for the purpose of poppy cultivation.”
Difficult terrain, concealed setup
“Under the directive of the SP Reeshma Ramesan, a joint team of forest personnel and Manatu police, led by me, marched towards the said location. It was a very arduous and difficult location. We don’t know if any member of this joint team walked with ease, as every single step that we took was fraught with danger of either slipping or going down by face. It was such a tricky, rough and tough route to reach the location,” said the police officer Nirmal Oraon.
Also Read- Winter session of Parliament from Dec 1
Poppy seeds and materials destroyed
“We found a clean patch of land. Shrubs and bushes were cleaned. A tent was pitched there. There were blankets to beat the night temperature. There were pillows too. All for night long stay there,” said the police officer.
Asked as to how many men could have slept under the tentage, Oraon said, “We understand 8 to 10 adult males could have stretched their legs at night with blankets over them.”
The joint team of the forest personnel and Manatu police recovered around 3 kgs of poppy seeds, which could be used for poppy cultivation in at least 4 to 5 acres of land.
The seeds were destroyed on the spot. Tents and other accessories found there, from blankets to pillows to utensils, were all burnt on the spot.
Asked if any cooked food was there to which the police officer said “Bhaat daal was ready. Some poppy cultivators were out working on the field, preparing for the sowing of the poppy seeds, who on sighting the joint team of the forest personnel and Manatu police, escaped from the site and vanished from the scene, taking temporary refuge in the jungles, which are very dense.”
Also Read- SC strikes down Bihar’s land registration rule requiring Jamabandi or holding number
Forest land misused for illegal cultivation
The land on which these men were to grow poppy was not of any raiyyat but was a forest land.
The forest team was led by Om Prakash Singh and Amresh Kumar Paswan.
This is the first instance when the joint team of forest and police have recovered poppy seeds before its sowing; otherwise, destruction of one foot or two feet of standing poppy cultivation was heard most routinely.
IG of Police, Palamu zone, Shailendra Kumar Sinha, in a conversation with this correspondent last week had said, “Our police’s strike against opioids like this poppy cultivation or drugs would be intense and vigorous. We need people’s cooperation in the fight against the poppy and drug menace.”
