Manipur forces wipe out fresh poppy fields as crackdown expands

A coordinated security operation on November 20 cleared 10 acres of poppy cultivation deep inside Songlung village in Kangpokpi district, marking the latest push against illicit plantations in Manipur’s hill ranges.

A joint team of Manipur Police, Assam Rifles and the CRPF located three separate cultivation sites, destroyed the crops and burned three farm huts along with tools and supplies found at the spot.

The action followed a large-scale crackdown a day earlier, when security forces and the Kangpokpi Forest Division removed illegal poppy fields spread across the Phailengkot–Makhan hill ranges of the Koubru Reserve Forest.

The effort on November 19 targeted six locations covering roughly 53 acres of forest land, an area officials say has seen repeated attempts at encroachment for poppy farming.

Seven makeshift huts were dismantled during that operation, and 35 packets of salt—believed to be used in processing and sustaining the crops—were seized and destroyed.

Authorities report that surveillance has been intensified and more joint operations are planned to prevent renewed cultivation inside protected forest zones.