Opium plantation worth Rs 72.8 lakh seized from onion field in Dharashiv

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The local crime branch (LCB) of the Dharashiv district police on Wednesday seized 485.7kg of illegally cultivated opium plants, valued at Rs 72.84 lakh, from an agricultural field in Washi taluka. The farmer accused of cultivating the crop fled upon learning about the impending raid, officers said.Acting on a specific tip-off about illicit opium cultivation in survey number 163 at Dashmegaon village, an LCB team conducted the raid on Wednesday. "The accused farmer attempted to hide the illegal crop by planting opium amid an onion field. In the early growth stage, opium saplings look similar to onion plants, making early detection challenging. It's only when the buds and flowers emerge that the plants become distinguishable," superintendent of police Ritu Khokher Kalyan said.She said police had been directed to identify individuals who might have been directly or indirectly connected through forward or backward linkages.During the operation, officials discovered numerous opium plants with white and pink flowers and mature pods intercropped with onions. In the presence of Washi deputy tehsildar Kisan Sangale and two govt panch witnesses, the police uprooted and seized the 485.7kg of plants.Local crime branch inspector Vinod Ijjapwar said preliminary findings indicated that the accused, a financially stable farmer, had cultivated it without any licence for personal financial gain. "He escaped before the police team arrived. A search operation has been launched to trace and arrest him," Ijjapwar said.Following a complaint filed by sub-inspector Sudarshan Kasar on behalf of govt, the Washi police registered a case against the farmer under sections 8(c) and 18 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, for illegal opium cultivation.The police said further investigation was under way to determine whether the accused acted alone or was part of a larger narcotics network.