Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha highlighted State Government’s ‘zero tolerance’ principle in making Tripura a drug free State and urged the Judiciary system to take a strict stance on bail matters taking into account the stringent provisions mentioned in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. He lamented that rate of conviction in NDPS Act is not up to the satisfactory level in the State.
Besides, on human trafficking, the Chief Minister said the State Government form an SIT to deal with the issue including illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya intrusions.
Dr Saha was speaking at a seminar, titled, ‘Cross Border Organized Crimes (NDPS, Human Trafficking & terror funding etc) – Impact Assessment and Legal Solutions’ at Tripura Judicial Academy in Agartala on Saturday.
The seminar was organized by Tripura Judicial Academy under the aegis of the High Court of Tripura today.
He drew upon attention of the gathering in which a large number of Law Students were present and said, drug use is not a style statement. Drug abuse is a serious concern since its poses significant health challenges besides ruining future generations. The younger generation is easily vulnerable to the menace of being easily lured to drugs for excitement, curiosity and owing to several other social issues”, the Chief Minister said.
He said that the introduction and use of synthetic drugs leading to HIV/AIDS has added a new dimension to the issue of drug abuse.
“Narcotic trade is also a great threat to the society, safety, and security of the country. It is one of the biggest sources of income for terrorist and anti-national elements. Such fund is used by the terrorists for procuring weapons to use in their terror activities”, Dr Saha said.
He said that in Tripura after the change of guards in 2018, the state government have declares Zero Tolerance to Drugs trafficking to make the state drug-free.
“According to NCB, Tripura ranks among the highest state in India in the seizure and destruction of narcotics items. From 2022 June to 2023 June around 1509 cases under the NDPS Act were registered, 1143 charge sheets filed, 2131 arrested under NDPS cases while 331 cases are pending”, he said.
In this connection, he mentioned, during the same period, while 428 Special NDPS cases were disposed of by various Courts in Tripura, only 38 cases were convicted. The rate of conviction is not up to the desirable level. Dr Saha said it should be the collective responsibility of all stakeholders to eradicate the drug menace in our State.
The Chief Minister further said, “Even though thousands of cases may be registered and investigated under NDPS Act but unless strict view in regard to bail is taken and the conviction rate is increased, we may not be able to eradicate the problem from its roots. I urge the Judiciary to take a holistic approach to and strict view in bail matters keeping in mind the stringent provision of NDPS Act so that we can make our society and state drug-free”.
He also detailed the seizure of different contraband items including ganja and cough syrup etc in the State.
The Chief Minister also said there is a substantial increase in detaining Rohingya of Bangladesh in 2023.
“Continuous efforts are being taken by the Tripura Police, BSF, and GRP to nab the illegal Bangladesh nationals and Rohingya. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to find links to human trafficking as illegal Bangladesh nationals and Rohingya travel to other states through Tripura. However the problem of human trafficking is not alarming in our state”, he said.
