Excise department warns bhang cultivator to destroy banned crops or face action

Excise Department (ED) has warned all those who are cultivating bhang to destroy the banned crops within three days or face action as per law, an official spokesman said here today. However, despite destroying crops cultivated over thousands of kanals of land, no action was taken against any land owner in the valley, people, who are opposing narcotic plant cultivation, alleged.

The spokesman said that ED has issued a strict warning that action as per the law would be initiated against the narcotic plant cultivators who fail to voluntarily destroy them within next three days. Continuing its anti-narcotics drive, the ED team destroyed bhang on 28 kanals of land in the village Nowbugh and Kasir Mullah Tehsil in central Kashmir district of Budgam. He said second Excise team destroyed bhang on 27 kanals of land in village Bagat Mohalla Shahgund in District Bandipora.

Similarly, another team destroyed bhang on 20 kanals of land in village Krindgam Ladibal in Anantnag. The Deputy Excise Commissioner said that, so far, the Department has destroyed bhang on 1,643 kanals across the valley. However, so far no action was taken against any farmer who has cultivated bhang, people alleged.