India / Assam CM burns drugs worth crores including 103 kg cannabis in public

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday set drugs worth over ₹ 170 crore on fire in public at locations as the state government started its two day anti-narcotics drive. The narcotics that were burned down included Morphine, Crystal Meth, Heroin, Ecstasy and Marijuana.

According to a report, four locations have been selected for the public burning of drugs. The drive was held at Diphu and Golaghat on Saturday and will be held at Nagaon and Hojai tomorrow, on Sunday.

The CM shared visuals of setting fire to the drugs and added that 11.88 kg morphine, 2.89 kg crystal meth, 3.47 kg heroin, 102.91 kg Cannabis and 2,03,384 tablets were destroyed at Diphu. "Today in Golaghat, we destroyed 802 gm Heroin worth more than ₹ 20 cr, 1205 kg Ganja/Cannabis, 3kg Opium & 2,06,906 nos tablets," he said in another tweet.

"Since the day I've assumed office, 874 cases have been registered, 1493 drugs dealers arrested & drugs worth ₹ 163 cr have been seized," the Chief Minister added.

Speaking at Golaghat in Upper Assam, CM Sarma said, "We have managed to recover narcotics worth ₹ 163 crore over the past two months through the proactive action of our police department".

According to an Assam Police release, 18.82 kg of heroin, 7944.72 kg cannabis, 67,371 bottles of cough syrup, 12,70,394 numbers of unprescribed sedative tablets, 1.93 kg of morphine, 3 kg methamphetamine and 3,313 kg of opium have been seized over the past couple of months.

"We were only aware that Assam was a transit route for narcotics from neighbouring countries to mainland India, but looking at the size of the narcotics market, we can say that this addiction has spread among several youths in Assam too," Sarma said.

"There have been certain incidents in which those involved in drug trafficking cases tried to escape and police had to shoot at their legs. For these actions, our police has received certain criticism too. But, being Assam's CM, I give complete freedom to Assam Police to take sternest actions within the ambit of law while dealing with such criminals. In fact, I encourage them to take the strictest of the strict steps they can under the Code of Criminal Procedure", Sarma said.