Agartala: Security forces in Tripura have destroyed more than 23 lakh ganja (marijuana) plants, estimated to be worth around Rs. 108 crore, in a series of coordinated anti-narcotics operations in Sepahijala district, officials said on Sunday.
The operations, carried out over the past three days, involved joint teams of the Tripura Police, Tripura State Rifles (TSR), Border Security Force (BSF), Forest Department and Excise Department.
Officials said the illicit plants were spread across about 414 acres of hilly and forested terrain in the Anandapur and Ghatigarh forest areas of Sepahijala.
According to police, the large-scale destruction was part of an ongoing crackdown on illegal cannabis cultivation in the state.
During the same period, security forces also uprooted and destroyed several lakh ganja plants in other districts, including South Tripura and Khowai.
In a separate operation on December 27, TSR personnel under Unakoti district conducted a special drive in the Kuli Basti forest area near Machmara Tea Garden, where around 15,000 to 17,000 mature ganja plants were destroyed across eight plots of land.
Officials said the anti-narcotics operations were led by district-level senior officers, including the Superintendent of Police or the Additional Superintendent of Police.
Several people allegedly involved in illegal cultivation have been arrested and booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
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Police said ganja produced in Tripura is largely not consumed locally and is smuggled to other states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where it commands higher prices. Consignments of dry ganja are frequently seized from trucks and passenger trains during transit.
Authorities noted that illegal cultivation is often carried out in remote and inaccessible hilly areas, with forest land and other government land frequently found to have been encroached upon for this purpose.
Residents, including women, have claimed that ganja cultivation serves as a source of livelihood.
Officials reiterated that the NDPS Act strictly prohibits the cultivation, possession, sale, purchase or consumption of narcotic and psychotropic substances.
Violations can attract stringent penalties, including heavy fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years.
