A special team of forest department officials unearthed nearly 1,000 cannabis plants cultivated clandestinely inside the reserved forest at Kurumalai region and subsequently destroyed them.
District Forest Officer Muhammed Shabab, who headed the special operation on Saturday and Sunday, told The Hindu that the cannabis plants were seen grown with other plants in few specific areas of the forest at Kurumalai belt where the normal access was extremely difficult.
“The special team, comprising nearly 100 forest department employees, have to travel through difficult terrains by a combination of vehicle journey and trekking for 10 hours from Udumalpet before reaching the locality where the cannabis plants were grown, after a tip-off was received”, pointed out Mr. Shabab.
The plants at varying stages of growth were found in different spots over a total expanse of 10 sq m.
Sources added that the forest officials had commenced a detailed inquiry to locate the people who cultivated the cannabis plants.
Mr. Shabab hinted at the continuance of searches in nearby localities too in the coming days to rule out possibilities of any other illegal cultivation.
