We’ll be ruthless’: Himanta drives road roller to crush seized drugs

way2barak, July 13: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday announced a “ruthless’ drive against drug trafficking and said inter-State coordination to break the backbone of the drug cartels improved after the installation of a Bharatiya Janata Party government in West Bengal.

Launching a State-level drugs disposal campaign at the 14th Assam Police Battalion headquarters in Nalbari district’s Daulasal, he said seized drugs worth ₹472.51 crore would be destroyed across nine districts.

He initiated the incineration of a portion of the seized heroin, cannabis, methamphetamine, and other drugs and drove a road roller to crush bottles of illegal cough syrups.

 “We will be ruthless in this fight against drugs. It is a promise and warning,” he said.

He said the State police and other agencies seized drugs and psychotropic substances worth ₹3,227 crore and registered 3,300 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in Assam over the past five years.

Mr. Sarma said the trafficking of drugs from Myanmar via Manipur and Mizoram had been a matter of concern, as Assam was slowly being used as a transit. From Assam, they were trafficked to West Bengal and then to other parts of the country.

“The inter-State understanding has improved, especially after the BJP formed the government in West Bengal. Better inter-State coordination is important for establishing forward and backward linkages, because the war against drugs does not end with the arrest of a trafficker,” he said.