Though drugs have been prohibited in Bihar under the Nitish Kumar’s government, the amount of narcotic drugs seized in the state has shot through the roof. Minister claims that people, instead of buying alcohol, are spending on sweets and milk but the data reveals the contrary.
This year, the amount of ‘Ganja’ seized till May 31 was over 588 times more in the quantity as compared to the last year. The case is similar in both charas and opium seizures. A Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said, that the seized material is just about 20-30% of the actual supply.
NCB Zonal Director T N Singh told The Telegraph:
“Drugs supply increases or decreases as per demand. Going by seizures made in the past 2-3 years, it is evident that drugs supply has risen since 2016”.
“The seizure has gone up without any increase in manpower…. Activities of drug peddlers are on the rise”, he added.
According to the sources, Odisha is the main source of these smuggled drugs. Despite Odisha, Tripura, Manipur and Nepal are the other places from where these drugs are transported.
“Around half the drugs come from Odisha, 30% from the north-east states and the rest from Nepal,” said an NCB source.
Since prohibition in April 2016, the Bihar police and the excise officials have seized 15 lakh litres of liquor.
To tackle the situation, the state government has opened de-addiction centres in several of the districts but health department authorities refused to share details on the kind of cases coming to these centres.
The state government has opened de-addiction centres in the districts but health department authorities refused to share details on the kind of cases coming to these centres.
