As a part of its drive against illegal opium cultivation, Odisha police on Monday destroyed a large number of opium or poppy plants inside Similipal sanctuary in Mayurbhanj district.
Police suspect that opium cultivation has been going on inside the core area of the sanctuary for some time now.
Inspector, Jashipur police station, Sanjukta Mahallik told The Telegraph: “After a tip-off about the cultivation of this banned plant, we raided the areas near Gopinathpur village, located inside Similipal sanctuary under Jashipur police station on Sunday. We found 95,850 opium plants. The plants are valued at ₹1.56 crore.”
Police personnel reached the area armed with mowers. The lush opium plantations lay flattened in under an hour. “Opium is used for making morphine and heroin, and is sent to the Calcutta market. From there, it is sent across the country. We have launched a probe to identify those involved in this illegal cultivation. We will nab those involved in the illegal opium cultivation. The probe is going on,” Mahallik said.
Police, along with excise officials, doused the uprooted plants with kerosene and set them on fire. The officer added: “Opium and ganja (cannabis) plants are entirely
different; opium comes from the poppy flower, while Ganja comes from the cannabis plant.”
The move is being viewed as a step towards curbing illegal opium and cannabis cultivation and trade in Mayurbhanj.
The local tribals, lured by the drug mafia and to earn quick money, get into these illegal cultivations. Selling and purchasing of cannabis is becoming increasingly popular among interstate drug traffickers. Earlier, drug mafias concentrated in Angul, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Rayagada and Kandhamal districts.
In December 2025, Odisha police had launched a crackdown to identify cultivation zones in remote districts. Using drones, satellite imagery and intelligence inputs, special squads carried out raids and destroyed cannabis and opium cultivations in areas like Boudh, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Koraput, Gajapati, Ganjam and Nabarangpur.
Officials reported that more than 18,111 acres of illegal cultivation was destroyed in 2025. Cultivation of opium and cannabis is on the decrease in these areas as the cultivators are exploring the hillier areas of the state.