Tightening the opium belt in Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh High Court’s remark that a case against an 18-year-old man, arrested for illegal opium possession, was ‘rather suspicious’, led to the suspension of six police personnel. It also brought the focus back on Malwa region’s historic opium cultivation. Mehul Malpani reports on how farmers find themselves caught between drug smuggling and crackdowns by government agencies