Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma performs ‘last rites’ of 736kg of drugs

GUWAHATI: Driving a bulldozer over a carpet of seized narcotics in Nagaon and making a bonfire of a 736kg stash of ganja in Hojai, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday performed what he called "the last rites of drugs" in the state.
"Destroying seized drugs worth Rs 163.58cr over last 2 days speaks volumes of the money involved in drugs trading," Sarma tweeted. "We’re working in coordination with Manipur & Mizoram to eliminate the drugs menace from North East India."

Sarma said in Hojai that the decision to cleanse the state of the scourge of drugs was beyond political inclination or ideology.

"It is not the duty of the ruling party alone. Each and every political party should come forward to make the state drugs-free. To save our children, we have to be strict and we must break the supply chain."
Three central Assam districts — Nagaon, Hojai and Morigaon — and the hill district of Karbi Anglong, bordering Nagaland, are under the police's radar as these have become the most-favoured transit routes of drug runners. DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said in Hojai that most drug consignments originate in Myanmar and enter the state through Karbi Anglong.
"Dimapur in Nagaland is the hub of methamphetamine tablets, and there are non-state actors involved in the trade." The crackdown on drugs started within days of the new BJP-led government assuming office. CM Sarma has given the police a free hand to go all out despite criticism from some quarters about the methods being used, including frequent "encounters".
A total of 874 cases have been registered and 1,493 drug runners arrested since the new government was formed on May 10.
"A large number of cases related to drug peddling have been unearthed. We want to convey a message by arresting peddlers and burning the seized psychotropic substances that there will be zero tolerance against the drugs in the state," the DGP said.