A man in Jaipur has been arrested after police discovered hundreds of opium plants hidden within his onion crop, highlighting ongoing efforts to combat illegal narcotics cultivation in the region.
Police here on Thursday arrested a man and seized 363 opium plants which he had cultivated illegally in his field, during a special drive against narcotics in the state capital.
Acting on a tip-off, a team from Khorabisal police station conducted a raid in Kishanpura village and found that the accused, Ramlal Sharma, had allegedly cultivated opium plants in his field.
The plants were grown among an onion crop to avoid detection, Khorabisal Station House Officer Surendra Singh said.
Police said the team inspected the field in the presence of local revenue officials and recovered 363 opium plants ranging from one to three feet in height. The plants were uprooted, weighing around 65.5 kg in total.
Several plants had incisions on the pods, from which a milky sap -- primary ingredient in opium production -- was found to be oozing.
The accused was arrested and the opium plants were seized under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, police said.