Excise and Prohibition wing personnel on Tuesday morning raided a location abutting the Boyakonda Gangamma hillock at Chowdepalle mandal in the district and destroyed poppy seeds (‘gasagasalu’) plantation spread in six acres.
The raids were undertaken on instructions from District Collector Siddarth Jain and Superintendent of Police G. Srinivas. Excise Deputy Commissioner Satyaprasad led the raids. According to officials, poppy cultivation has been banned in the State and is allowed only in West Bengal and Rajasthan. However, the crop is raised in more than 2,000 acres in the district, they said. As many as six persons, including two farmers and middlemen, were nabbed during the operation.
Poppy raised in more than 2,000 acres in Chittoor, say officials
