Illegal substances: Poppy continues to be grown in Haripur despite ban

DSP says criminal case registered against five farmers; however, accused were on the run from police.

HARIPUR:

Despite restrictions on the cultivation of poppy by the government, farmers in Nara Amazai and Bait Gali tehsils of Haripur continue to defy the ban and grow the crop, which is mostly used for narcotics.

DSP Ghazi tehsil Ishtiaq Khan said while talking to The Express Tribune that he led a raid party to Balongi village in Bait Gali and found eight kanals of land with mature poppy plants. As per the government’s policy, he added, the crop was completely destroyed and the flowers sent to laboratories for further reports.

The DSP said a criminal case was registered against five farmers; however, he added that the accused were on the run from the police.

He said there is information about the crop being grown in certain other areas and the farmers have been asked to destroy the crop voluntarily within a couple of days, or they will be severely punished. The DSP added that Ghazi police had destroyed the crop in the region last year as well and registered cases against over a dozen farmers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2014.