Security forces have seized a record 3,350 kg of dry cannabis (ganja) valued at over Rs 2 crore and arrested two persons in Sepahijala district in west Tripura, police said on Friday.
"A joint team of security personnel and other officials led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (Directorate of Intelligence Bureau) Alok Bhattacharjee seized 3,350 kg of cannabis in the bordering village of Kamalnagar late Thursday," Sepahijala district police chief Kulwant Singh told IANS on phone.
"The contraband in 85 drums was buried in a betel-leaf garden and was recovered after a 15-hour operation. The case was later handed over to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence," he added.
The government led by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has announced that it will make Tripura a drug-free state and directed the security forces to have zero tolerance against drug trade.
The Directorate Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which was part of the joint operation, on Friday said that it was the seventh successive seizure of contraband sourced from Tripura.
"As much as 8,900 kg of ganja originating from Tripura has been seized in the past few months," a DRI statement said.
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"Organised cultivation and harvesting of cannabis for commercial purposes in Tripura is seen to be a new trend and the DRI is closely monitoring the situation in the eastern sector in tandem with other agencies. Large-scale cultivation of ganja is occurring in hilly tracts and jungles of Tripura under thick foliage of rubber plantations," it added.
In a separate operation along with Assam Police, BSF and CRPF on Thursday, DRI seized 488 kg of cannabis from an abandoned house in Angla Bazar, Badarpur, in Karimganj district of Assam.
A Northeast Frontier Railway press release said the Railway Protection Force had seized around 100 kg of ganja valued at Rs 6.27 lakh from Guwahati, Agartala and Dimapur railway stations over the past two weeks.
--IANS
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