Despite Home Minister Amit Shah's promise, the Assam Government is indifferent about building Narcotics Department in the Barak Valley

Today is International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Maybe just like the rest of the world, Barak Valley too will celebrate the day. Home Minister Amit Shah came to Silchar to attend a meeting at the last stage of the assembly elections a couple of months back. During an election campaign, every party gives assurances and promises to the people, which is nothing uncommon. But on that particular day, the Home Minister also promised an important thing. He assured that a special narcotics division would be set up in the Barak Valley. This is because drugs are being smuggled into this region through various states and international borders. Despite the statewide crackdown on drugs since the new government came to power, no initiative has been taken to set up any special narcotics division in the Barak Valley. Not even the new Chief Minister or any minister in the government has uttered a word about it.

According to experts, Barak Valley is an important part of an international drug trafficking route. Various types of drugs enter the Barak Valley from Myanmar via Manipur and Mizoram and reach Bangladesh via Karimganj and Agartala. Besides, a huge part of it goes to other parts of India as well. Last year, State Fisheries Minister Parimal Suklabaidya had claimed that drugs were smuggled from Bangladesh to India through fish stomachs. He assured to talk to the state police in this regard. However, no operation was launched by the police to investigate this claim.

When asked about the need of building a narcotics division in Barak Valley, Amit Shah said, “The youth of Barak Valley have fallen prey to drugs, various international circles are supplying drugs to this region. Special teams will be formed to prevent these and special surveillance will be kept in every area of ​​Barak Valley.”

Of course, that was just an election campaign promise. Many times after the formation of the government, the party in power tends to forget about their promise. However, there is an urgent need to build a narcotics division in the Barak Valley. A large part of the youth of the area has fallen prey to illicit drugs, which are sold openly along with cigarettes and gutkha in shops. The Police have detained such illicit drug dealers several times in public, but the government is yet to take any long-term action regarding this.

The BSF once said that the drug traffickers have been continuing their trafficking in new ways. The drug traffickers from the other side of the border send drugs across the border by tying them to stones from the other side and throw. There have been many more such trafficking methods and several times they have been destroyed by the police and the army. While the government has been actively campaigning against illicit drugs across the state, it has yet to take any action to comply with Home Minister Amit Shah’s assurances. But on Saturday, on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, there will be disappointment at least on the part of Barak Valley.