Excise officials and police jointly raided and destroyed illegal opium cultivation spread across more than five acres of forest land near Punupokhari village in Koida area of Sundargarh district.
The raid took place on Saturday morning after specific intelligence inputs. Teams led by the Koida Tehsildar, local SDPO, IICs of Koida and Kebolang police stations, along with excise officials, reached the site and uprooted the entire crop. The estimated market value of the destroyed opium is between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 50 lakh.
Authorities detained two persons, reportedly residents of Jharkhand, while several others managed to escape. Police have begun a detailed investigation to trace the network behind the cultivation.
Officials revealed that the opium mafia had cleared forest land to plant the crop, raising serious questions about how such large‑scale activity went unnoticed by the forest department.
The crackdown highlights the growing challenge of illegal narcotics cultivation in remote forest areas and the need for stronger surveillance and inter‑departmental coordination.
