Raigarh: Police on Monday uncovered illegal opium cultivation at a farm in the Lailunga police station area of Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh. This is the second such discovery within 48 hours and the fifth case of illicit poppy farming reported in the state in the last 17 days.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team carried out a raid at the site where opium was being grown on 50 decimals of land. Officials arrested two accused – Jagatram Nag and Manoj Nag, while a third suspect, Sadhram Nag, is absconding. During interrogation, the accused revealed they had procured seeds from a trader in Pathalgaon.
This action follows a similar illegal cultivation case in the Amaghat area of Tamnar block on March 21. In that incident, police detained Marshal Sanga, a native of Jharkhand, who had been living in Tamnar for over a decade. He had allegedly leased land under the pretext of growing watermelons and cucumbers, but instead started opium cultivation.
Investigations indicate that Sanga took up illegal opium farming after observing similar practices in Jharkhand. Authorities had reached the site on March 20 to begin documentation and destruction of crops spread across around 1.5 acres.
The state has seen a sharp rise in such cases recently. Earlier incidents were reported in Durg (March 7) and two cases in Balrampur district – Kusmi (March 10) and Korandha (March 12).
Raigarh police have now intensified patrolling and surveillance in rural areas to detect more illegal plantations. Senior officials confirmed that the investigation is ongoing to trace the larger supply chain and seed sources.
Meanwhile, former CM Bhupesh Baghel remarked:
“‘Good governance or opium’—in Lailunga block’s Navin Ghat village, opium has been found not in one or two but in three different fields. It now feels like BJP should change its election symbol from the ‘lotus flower’ to the ‘opium flower’.”
