Opium poppy case: Special team to meet in Pune

A special investigation team set up by the Maharashtra DGP to probe illegal cultivation of opium poppy will be held on March 20 in Pune, a senior police officer said today.

The five-member team was formed in the wake of the raids conducted by police in various places across the state where unauthorised cultivation was unearthed.

Sangli district additional superintendent of police Digambar Pradhan told PTI over phone that the maiden meeting of the investigation team would be held in Pune on Tuesday.

The meeting will mainly discuss about the steps to be initiated to crush the backbone of illegal opium cultivation, Additional Superintendent of Police Digambar Pradhan said.

The special investigation team comprises Dy SP Dinkar Shinde (Magalgon tehsil, Beed), police inspector S D Sudke (Dharur tehsil, Beed), police inspector Ramesh Swamy (Deglur, Nanded), police inspector Sardar Patil (Haveli, Pune), police inspector Balkrushna Kadam (Sangli district).

Illegal opium poppy cultivation was discovered in Moha, Ghorpad-tanda, Vanjarwadi and Pohner villages in Beed district and in some areas in districts of Pune and Sangli, besides some other parts of the state in February.

In Beed, more than 30 farmers had been booked under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.