State vows to launch war on drugs – Calcutta Telegraph

The Telegraph report published on June 3

Alarmed by the jump in seizures of narcotics in Bihar post prohibition, the state government and central agencies are gearing up to combat the drugs menace on war footing.

Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh convened a high-level meeting on Saturday over the crisis, in which senior officers of the administration, the police and central agencies such as the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) participated.

"Based on recent seizures, six places have been identified from where drugs are distributed to other parts of the state," one of the senior officials present at the meeting said under cover of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media. "All the agencies concerned have been asked to work in close coordination to break the backbone of the drug dealers at the point of supply."

The six places are Masarh in Bhojpur district, Gaya, Purnea, the Raghopur Diara region in Vaishali district, and Gopalganj and Raxaul in East Champaran.

The Telegraph had reported in its June 3 edition how seizures of narcotics such as ganja, charas and opium have gone through the roof after prohibition was imposed on the state.

"It's nothing to be surprised about," chief minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday, when asked about increased consumption of narcotics in dry Bihar.

Nitish said he had been continuously expressing his concern about it at public meetings since April 2016, and pointed out that de-addiction centres had been set up in all districts.

He underlined the need to spread awareness among people about the ill-effects of substance abuse, and also indicated an administrative crackdown on drugs.

"Those indulging in drug trafficking would be strongly dealt with. The chief secretary chaired a meeting with all enforcement agencies working in the state, including central government's DRI, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and others. State and central government agencies will work in close coordination to tackle the issue," Nitish said.

The NCB, the DRI, the state police and the state excise department will jointly crack the whip on the narcotics suppliers. All agencies that seize drugs are supposed to inform the NCB.

Jitendra Singh Gangwar, the inspector-general of police, economic offences unit, will be the nodal officer to whom the state police and the excise officials would provide details of seizures before they are passed on to the NCB.

"Seizure-related data is of prime importance for coordinating the efforts of the agencies working against drug dealers," explained a senior NCB official. "These data can help identify people engaged in this illegal business and help decipher their modus operandi."

Saturday's meeting decided on strict action against those running drug rackets in Bihar.

"All the participants unanimously agreed that nabbing the peddlers will not help much unless strict action, including legal action, is taken against the actual recipients of the drug consignments coming to Bihar," said the official who was present at the meeting. "Some of them have already been identified. The ultimate aim will be to hand over the cases to the Enforcement Directorate so that the ill-gotten assets of the drug mafia are seized."

The government has told excise and police officers to intensify checking of vehicles with out-of-state registration numbers.

"Most vehicles from which drugs have been seized bear registration numbers of other states," said the official.

The police and the excise officers have also been instructed to keep tabs on drug peddlers while carrying out operations to nab bootleggers.

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State vows to launch war on drugs - Calcutta Telegraph