Police’s anti-‘Ganja’ campaign meet with resistance in Bijay Nagar (Sonamura), seizure and arrest in Churaibari

By Our Correspondent

Sonamura, December 12, 2025

Tripura police’s anti-‘Ganja’ (cannabis) operation in Bijay Nagar area under Sonamura subdivision met with resistance from local tribals, specially women . In the face of resistance against illegal ‘Ganja’ plants cutting and attacks from tribal women the police perforce had to resort to lathi-charge in which twenty women and one male sustained injuries. This has reportedly sparked tension in the area though most of the ‘Ganja’ plants were destroyed by the police party.

Police sources from Sonamura said that acting on a tip-off a large police and TSR party led by officer in charge of Sonamura police station, Tapas Das reached Bijay Nagar and started cutting down illegal ‘Ganja’ plants reared by the local tribals. Even though the menfolk were not in sight, a large group of women came forward to resist the police action by organised attacks and stone pelting. Acting under compulsion the police team under orders resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the irate crowd of women. As a result twenty tribal women and one male sustained minor injuries and most of them had to undergo treatment in Melaghar hospital. Reacting to allegations of high-handedness and physical assault on women, police sources said that the police party had gone to destroy illegal ‘Ganja’ cultivation as per government policy. “Do not we have the constitutional and basic human right of self-defence; we did not attack but were subjected to murderous assault; naturally we had to save our lives by dispersing the crowd legally” said sources from Sonamura.

Apart from this, police achieved a major success in anti-Ganja operation by arresting four Bihari women carrying twenty kgs of ‘Ganja’ (cannabis) at the Churaibari ‘Naka’ point early this morning. Sources from Churaibari said that early this morning a police party posted on duty at the ‘Naka’ point stopped an Alto vehicle (No-TRO5B-0314) and conducted a search operation. The search party in the course of the operation found 20 kgs of dry ‘Ganja’ in the bags of four women passengers and from some secret chambers of the vehicle. The police seized the contraband ‘Ganja’ worth Rs 6 lakhs in the black market and arrested the four Bihari women identified as Mongli Debi (28), Kabita Debi (35), Anita Debi (38), Sutur Kumari (30) and the driver Sandip Malakar (30). The officer in charge of Churaibari police station Debabrata Biswas said that cases under the NDPS act will be registered against the nabbed ‘Ganja’ peddlers.

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