"We have been trying to stop illegal poppy cultivation through our excise and district administration arms, but so far there has been no remarkable progress. The illegal farming keeps going on. We have now decided to use drones to keep a hawk's eye across the entire district, specially the blocks close to the Indo-Bangla border, to track and check illegal poppy cultivation," said district Superintendent of Police Arnab Ghosh.
"The drones are already with us. The BDOs and senior police officers of the police stations concerned have also been informed. We will also seek active assistance from the panchayat functionaries in our effort to curb illegal poppy cultivation in Malda district," Ghosh said.