Prayagraj (UP), Mar 15 (PTI) Two men have been arrested for illegal opium cultivation in a village here and 57.60 kg of raw opium worth Rs 50 lakh was recovered from them, police said on Friday.

Acting on information that some people were cultivating opium in Amreha village, police went to the spot and sealed the field, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Yamuna Nagar) Shraddha Narendra Pandey said.

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Officials including the excise inspector who examined the spot later found that opium was being cultivated in an area of about 20 square metres, she said, adding that the estimated value of the recovered raw opium is Rs 50 lakh.

Mishri Lal and Panchraj Kushwaha were arrested and a case has been registered against them in Ghurpur police station, the DCP said.

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In a similar incident, police on Thursday destroyed about 1,500 opium plants and 1,718 opium fruits (weighing 136.34 kg) being illegally cultivated in Handia police station area of Ganga Nagar

Vijay Chandra Maurya was arrested in connection with the case, police said, adding that the estimated value of the opium destroyed is around Rs 1 crore.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)