Kohima | August 11 : Nagaland continues to remain one of the main transit routes for smuggling different types of banned substances as proven by the amount of confiscation made by the State Police every year. But these achievements of the police seem to remain unrewarded.
The Government of India through the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) has set a scheme of rewards for people offering information on drag-tra
fficking and also for impounding them by state law-enforcement agencies. However, Nagaland seems to have not been able to avail funds meant to encourage effective controlling of drug-trafficking. The NCB award scheme is supported by the UNO through its UNDP programme.
The Narcotics Control Bureau is the designated agency for processing and sanctioning rewards for seizing narcotics and other psychotropic substances. The reward committee of the NCB meets every month for considering reward proposals.
As per the scheme, state governments and other enforcement agencies are required to constitute state reward committees which may sanction and give awards up to Rs.10, 000 per officer, per case in accordance with instructions laid down in the reward scheme. State governments can claim reimbursement from the NCB by submitting such bills once in three months. In cases where the reward admissible and proposal is above Rs.10, 000 per person, the reward committees of an enforcement agency can recommend cases to the NCB for consideration and sanction.
Taking into consideration the confiscations made every year by the Nagaland Police and its various agencies including the Police Narcotic Cell and Excise department, they should have been earning in terms of lakhs every year. However, it was learnt that the state police has not received awards from the NCB so far. A senior Police official admitted that the state PHQ has been sending such proposals to the NCB but it has not received any “scheme” from the NCB. During an interaction, another officer revealed that his Agartala counterpart who is also a batch-mate had revealed that a team of Agartala police personnel who detected and seized about 170 Kgs of contraband Ganja had received the award amount from the NCB. Pointing out incidences of huge quantity of contraband Ganja being seized by the state police even to the tune of 14,000 Kgs, he felt that the achievements made by the Nagaland police personnel deserves the awards.
Similarly, another senior official agreed that “if the award is availed, it could have been a good source of encouragement for the state agencies personnel in effective performing of their duties and checking corruption to a certain level while it could also encourage the flow of information as the identity of the informer will remain anonymous.”
Confiscation made by Nagaland Police in the year 2007
Sl.No Type of Drug Quantity Expected Award for Informer and State Agencies
1. Ganja 10,822 Kgs Rs 8,65,760 x 2 = Rs.17,31520/-
2. Heroin – 1.10 Grams
3. Opium 12.7 Grams
4 Brown Sugar 624 ½ Grams
5 Spasmo Proxivum 19,468 Capsules
6 Parvon Spas 1499 Capsules
7 Nitrozepam 2884 Capsules
8 Relipain 17893 Capsules
9 IMFL 17,905 Bottles
Case Registered – 234
Person Arrested – 356
Cases Charge-sheeted - 356
Capture of banned drugs and other banned substances since January to June, 2008
Sl.No Type of Drug Quantity Expected Award for Informer and State Agencies
1. Ganja 2126 Kgs Rs.1,70,080 x 2 = Rs.3,40160 /-
2. Heroin 170 Grams
3. Opium 6.4 Grams
4 Brown Sugar 1.16 Grams
5 Spasmo Proxivum 35, 831 Capsules
6 Nitrozepam 1035 Capsules
7 Diazepam 34 Strips
8 Relipain 3800 Capsules
9 IMFL 33, 624 Bottles
Case Registered – 107
Arrested – 156
On the other hand, the NCB also provides assistance to the state in the nature of grant-in-aid with no assistance required for acquiring equipment for surveillance, laboratories and offices but not for meeting recurring expenditure. The assistance however is meant only to cells and units which are exclusively engaged in drug law enforcement.
However, to avail such assistance, the state has to established basic institutional arrangements prescribed by the NCB for effective enforcement of anti-narcotics laws. The state has to establish a multi-disciplinary level coordination committee under the chair of the chief secretary or a senior secretary for regular interaction with various central and state agencies, including the NCB, for coordination and sharing information and for reviewing drug situation in a state. The state also has to set up an anti-narcotics task force under an IG-level officer with duties and responsibilities duly demarcated and formalized action plan to address narcotics-related issues including, identification of regions which are sensitive to drugs trafficking, requiring focused attention and strategies for action in these regions.
In a dramatic move, the Nagaland Police has reportedly withdrawn all Police personnel from all the Narcotics check gates with effect from May 1 earlier this year.
The move seems to have caught the state Police Narcotic Cell by surprise as its personnel have been pushed back to the police station to function. While confirming the report, SP Narcotic Imcharemla who took over the assignment after the withdrawal of the Narcotic personnel from the check gates, regretted the move. Check gates are one of the most effective places for the Narcotic Cell to function. ‘Without any provision of funds at our disposal for acquiring information or sources, I don’t know how we’ll function now,’ she added.
The Nagaland Police Narcotic Cell, headed by a Superintendent-level officer, currently has only one Narcotic Police Station for the entire state and is functioning with a negligible strength of 30 supporting staff. Moreover, the cell and the only Narcotic police station are presently functioning without any proper demarcation of jurisdiction. If a single Narcotic Police Station is supposed to cover the entire state, there should be supporting staff and check gates in every part of vulnerable and suspected drug trafficking routes and regions, the SP added.
(Morung Express News)
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