Dergaon (Assam), Sep 3 (PTI): A new unit, ‘Anti Narcotics Task Force’, will be raised within Assam Police to deal with the drug menace, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.
Addressing a press meet after the conclusion of the two-day SSP conference here, he also said that Assam aims to achieve a conviction rate of 35 per cent within this year in chargesheet cases, up from the current 29.3 per cent.
“We will have a new unit called Anti Narcotics Task Force to deal with the drug menace. The Centre had also suggested it,” Sarma said. There will be several verticals within this force, like legal and financial, and it will look into matters such as ensuring that accused persons do not get bail easily and breaking down the financial network of drug cartels, he added.
“This force will work on strongly implementing the NDPS Act. We hope to raise this unit within Assam Police in the next one month,” Sarma said.
The CM also said that the conviction rate of FIRs in which chargesheets are filed has gone up to 29.3 per cent at present from around seven per cent in 2020.
“We are now targeting to achieve a 35 per cent conviction rate within this year. Currently, we are able to submit chargesheets in 80 per cent of registered cases within the stipulated time,” he added. The CM said that the two-day conference had a detailed discussion on the drugs issue and deliberated on the transit route of narcotics products.
“The SSPs said that we have to work in coordination with Mizoram, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh to block this transit route. Otherwise, it will be difficult to stop the transportation of drugs,” he added.
Sarma said that the SSP conference decided that two new battalions will be raised within Assam Police in the coming days. “The promotion in Assam Police was due for some time, and we have decided to go ahead with it now. This will create more posts for hiring. We will recruit 5,000 people in Assam Police next year,” he added.
In the last five years, 21,000 youths were recruited in Assam Police and are looking to hire 15,000-20,000 people in the current term of the government, Sarma said.
Talking about the conference, he said that maintenance of law and order was given top priority and that it should not be compromised at any cost.