Police bust opium cultivation hidden in Bhilwara wheat field

Bhilwara: Police in Bhilwara district Sunday seized 8,500 illegally cultivated opium plants weighing over 125 kg from a wheat field in Delana village under Gangapur police station and registered a case against the field owner under NDPS Act.Police said the field owner fled from the spot after getting wind of the police action, and raids were underway at probable locations to arrest him.
Bhilwara Sadar DSP (probationer IPS officer) Madhav Upadhyay led the raid after police received information that opium was being grown under the cover of a wheat crop in the field of Narayan Lal.Upadhyay said a team was formed on the directions of SP Dharmendra Singh and it conducted a thorough search of the wheat crop and found opium plants amid it. He said the team uprooted 8,500 opium plants, packed them into 13 plastic sacks, and found the weight to be over 125 kg. Opium pods had already appeared on top of all the plants, he said. Further investigation is underway.