Illegally grown poppy plants worth Rs 15 crore destroyed in Jharkhand
Hazaribag (Jharkhand), Jan 14: Poppy plants cultivated illegally on over 100 acres of land in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district were destroyed amid tight security, a police officer said on Sunday.
The operation to destroy the poppy plants estimated to be valued at Rs 15 crore, which began on Saturday in several villages in Chouparan area, was completed during the day, Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Barhi, Nazir Akhtar, said.
Around 200 police and CRPF personnel were present while earthmovers were driven on the land where the poppy was planted.
The SDPO said that the police have taken it as a challenge after villagers and anti-social elements cultivating the plants illegally attacked a 40-member forest department team that went to destroy the plants in the Bihar-Jharkhand border area on January 10.
Twelve forest personnel had suffered injuries in the attack and they had to be hospitalised. The assailants had also taken away a tractor and three two-wheelers belonging to forest department staff that day.
"We wanted to teach them a lesson. They dared to defy the government order and continue to grow the plants. We have destroyed poppy plants estimated to be valued at Rs 15 crore," Akhtar said.
When the security personnel entered the area for the operation on Saturday, the cultivators fled, he said.
However, the accused have been identified and an FIR was registered in this regard, the SDPO added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Suvendu Adhikari's personal assistant shot at
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's personal assistant Chandranath Rath was shot at from close range by unidentified assailants in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday night, sources said.
The incident took place in the Madhyamgram area, where the victim, who serves as the executive assistant to the leader of opposition in the state assembly, was allegedly targeted on a public road, they said.
Rath sustained multiple bullet injuries in the firing and was rushed to a private hospital, sources added.
Soon after the incident, a large police contingent reached the spot and launched an investigation.
The motive behind the attack was not immediately known.
Senior police officers were present in the area, and efforts were on to identify and trace those involved in the shooting, sources said.
