Punjab gets opium from Jharkhand’s Maoist areas

CHANDIGARH: After a major crackdown on the cross-border drug smuggling into Punjab from Afghanistan via Pakistan, opium and processed heroin are being supplied in the state from Maoist-controlled forest areas of Jharkhand.






The Delhi police’s special cell on July 7 arrested two persons, identified as Rajvinder Singh and Bhim Giri, transporting 12 quintals of poppy straw (husk left after extraction of opium from pods) worth Rs 10 crore from Jharkhand to Punjab. The accused admitted during the investigation that they had already transported around 800 quintals of poppy straw to Punjab from Jharkhand in the recent past.

Such smugglers are selling opium in Punjab at almost double the rate they purchase it from Jharkhand.

‘Maoists get share from illegal opium cultivators’

Punjab’s anti-drug STF head, ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu, also confirmed the state police have arrested people with drug consignments from Jharkhand. “In March this year, the STF had arrested retired DSP Hakikat Rai Singh and two others with 15 kg opium being smuggled from Jharkhand into Punjab,” said Sidhu. These accused were arrested by the STF in Fatehgarh Sahib and a .32 bore revolver and several live cartridges were recovered too. The investigation revealed that these accused had been smuggling opium from Jharkhand to Punjab for the last few years since opium was available at cheaper rates in Jharkhand.

Mayur Patel Kanhiya Lal, superintendent of police of Maoist-affected Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, told TOI over phone, “Illegal opium cultivation is happening only in the Maoist-protected forest areas. Villagers into illegal cultivation of opium have protection from the Maoists and these Maoists are getting a good share of money from the illegal trade for financing their projects.” Other than Hazaribagh, most affected districts in terms of illegal cultivation of opium are Chatra, Palamu, Latehar, Khunti and Gumla, he added.

Suppliers of illegal drugs outside Punjab approach locals in Jharkhand and take opium consignments to process the drug further into heroin since the locals do not have any kind of processing mechanism with them, said Lal. The crude drug is processed into consumable form in places like Bareilly. “This illegal opium and the processed heroin then finds market in Punjab and other parts of the country,” he added.

The Hazaribagh SP said opium cultivation crop season is between February and April. The police regularly launch an extensive drive to destroy the crop and register cases in March and April. The Hazaribagh district police, in collaboration with the central agencies, including the Narcotics Control Bureau, also get satellite images of the illegal cultivation areas.

“Police do not have regular patrols in these Maoist-affected forest areas. Whenever we are venturing into those areas, we are taking elaborate protection,” said Lal. He also accepted since it is difficult for the enforcement agencies to destroy 100% illegal opium crop, such products are then supplied in the illegal market.