Baripada, March 23 -- In a major crackdown, excise officials carried out an operation in Similipal National Park and tiger reserve in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district and destroyed acres of opium poppy cultivation in the area.

The joint operation was carried out by the mobile unit of Mayurbhanj excise division including district-level officials officials and those from Jashipur and Rairangpur at Saruda village of Astakuan panchayat on Friday night.

Official sources said 15 acre of opium poppy cultivation was destroyed. The market value of the destroyed crops is estimated at around Rs 10.5 crore.

Earlier, excise sleuths carried out three back to back raids at seven places in the national park where nearly 6.95 lakh plants worth over Rs 13 c...