Dhule (Maharashtra) | The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has destroyed cannabis cultivated illegally over 9.49 acres of land in north Maharashtra's Dhule district, officials said on Wednesday.

The cultivators were so organised that they even used drip irrigation, said an official release here.

The operation was undertaken by DRI Mumbai along with its Pune and Nagpur regional units after receiving specific intelligence that cannabis was being cultivated at Khamkheda Ambe and Rohini villages on Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh border.

After conducting surveillance of this remote area, seven sites with a total of 9.493 acres of cannabis under cultivation were found.

Drip irrigation was being used on these sites to increase the yield, "indicating a very organised illicit cultivation", the release said.

Land records for all the sites were traced, and it was found that these land parcels had been encroached on and illegally used for the cultivation of cannabis.

A total of 96,049 plants were uprooted and destroyed. Further, 420 kg of ganja, packed in gunny sacks, was seized under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, officials said.