Agartala, Jan. 3 -- In a major crackdown on illegal narcotics cultivation, joint security forces destroyed a massive ganja plantation spread across forest land in the Kalamchoura region of Sepahijala district in Tripura, officials said.

Acting on specific intelligence inputs on Saturday, the operation was conducted from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm in the North Kalamchoura, South Kalamchoura, and Anandapur Ghatigarh areas. During the coordinated raid and search operation, around 19 lakh pre-mature ganja plants were uprooted and destroyed on the spot.

Officials said the illegal cultivation covered nearly 650 acres of forest land, with the market value of the destroyed ganja estimated at around Rs 100 crore.

The large-scale operation was jointly c...