SWABI: The police have destroyed poppy crop cultivated over 30 kanals of land in the mountainous Naranji village of Razaar tehsil here during an operation launched on Thursday and completed on Friday.

District police officer Haroon Rashid Khan said a team under the supervision of DSP Razaar Ajab Khan, SHO Parmuli police station Gohar Khan and SHO Kalu Khan Munsif Khan led the operation.

The poppy growers didn’t show any resistance as police officials had warned them of action if they did so, he added. Mr Haroon recalled that the police had also destroyed poppy grown on a wide area in Gadoon Amazai region a few weeks ago. He said Naranji was mountainous terrain, where growers cultivated poppy in inaccessible areas to hide it from police.

However, he said revenue department officials provided the police with a map showing the areas were the banned crop was grown.

Another official, who supervised the operation, said the action continued despite rain.

The official said the farmers pledged they wouldn’t cultivate the banned crop in future. He said local jirga members were also involved in making the farmers not to grow poppy in future.

A farmer in Naranji area told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the growers were happy to cultivate poppy as it gave them more profits than other crops.

SHOT DEAD: A boy on Friday shot dead his father over a petty issue in Gul Khan Banda locality of Gohati on Friday, the police said.

Officials said Ibrar Khan told his son, Saban Khan to avoid joining bad company, but the latter refused to do so, promoting his father to hit him with a stick. Later, they said the boy went inside a room, took out a pistol, and shot his father dead.

Sarfaraz Khan, father of the deceased, got registered an FIR against his grandson for the murder.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024