The day was June 21, 2021. An Assam Home Guard Borsing Bey and his team received an Intelligence report that a large consignment of the banned methamphetamine was being smuggled in a public bus in Karbi Anglong. He used his experience and intelligence to unravel the drugs hidden in the bus which more experienced policemen could not locate. It is now rumoured that he was offered a lucrative deal to keep quiet. The policeman in Bey did not defy the call of conscience and reported the matter to his seniors. Not only drugs worth ₹ 12 crore were seized but even those responsible were arrested. Bey was promoted as a constable by the police. However, what not many realised was that this was the beginning of a massive crackdown on drugs by the Assam Police which probably Bey ignited.
As on date, The Assam Police in the last 18 months have managed to seize drugs worth ₹ 1,066.29 crore and arrest 7,659 peddlers in their mission to rid the State of drugs. The situation has come to such a state that not one day passes by without the news of a drugs haul reported by the State media, highlighting how galvanised the police has become in its quest to make Assam drugs free.
Talking to Asom Barta, DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said that a sustained campaign against drugs was always on. “What has changed after a new Government under Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has come to power is that the campaign has been intensified. The Assam Police has become ruthless in its quest to make the State drugs-free,” Mahanta said, adding that the police has educated itself on the stringent laws governing peddling of drugs, while also taking advantage of technology.
A case in point is the app Drugs Free Assam which encourages the people to post information on drugs on the app. Besides, the Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD) app of the Home Ministry is facilitating greater coordination between the State and various law enforcement agencies of the Centre in its fight against narcotics.
“The matter came up during the Regional Conference on Drug Trafficking and National Security held in Guwahati. Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing Chief Ministers, Chief Secretaries and DGPs of the North Eastern States harped on the need for greater coordination among agencies while referring to the habit of drug consumption as one which can destroy generations,” The Assam DGP told Asom Barta.
Sanjib Kumar Saikia, Superintendent of Police, Karbi Anglong said police in his district is always on the alert since Karbi Anglong is the nodal centre of drugs trafficking in the region, especially consignment coming from Myanmar via Nagaland to other parts of Assam via the hill district.
“Last year, our police force confiscated 2833 kg of ganja, 20.36 kg of heroine, and 63,463 methamphetamine tablets, among others. We organise several awareness programme to nip the habit in the bud,” Saikia said.
Writer Jayant Madhav Bora, who has also penned a novel centring on drugs, was full of praise for the police initiative against drugs. “It destroys not only one single body but a household and a society,” he said, while exhorting writers, singers and poets to use the power of their art to raise awareness against drugs.
Bimal Laskar of Nagaon, while appreciating the relentless drive of the police against narcotics in his district, advocated a continuous campaign to rid the society of this menace. “We had two successful years against drugs when the district police swamped the peddlers. However, I want this drive to continue,” he told this reporter.
In Guwahati city, drugs worth ₹ 407 crore were confiscated in the calendar year 2022, including heroin, and cocaine.
“We maintain a close contact with our neighbouring States. Besides, the Assam Police works on forward and backward linkage to identify peddlers and consumers so that the problem is tackled at the grassroots,” the DGP said.
