By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 19: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) on Saturday urged the state government to raise the demand for establishing a Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office in Shillong with the Centre.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the HYC’s Central Executive Committee (CEC), HYC president Roy Kupar Synrem emphasised that an NCB office in Shillong would be crucial for monitoring the smuggling of drugs and narcotics into Meghalaya from other states and countries.
He recalled that Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityananda Rai, had recently highlighted that Meghalaya had become a transit route for drug smuggling from Manipur to other states.
Synrem also pointed out that while NCB offices are located in neighbouring states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Tripura, Meghalaya still lacks one, despite the rising cases of drug trafficking. He stressed that better coordination and stronger monitoring of drug-related activities necessitate the establishment of an NCB office in the state.
In addition to the NCB office, Synrem proposed that the government establish a dedicated police unit specifically to investigate drug trafficking cases. He suggested that this unit could either be a new Special Police Unit or an extension of the existing Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) and should focus solely on drug-related issues, from monitoring illegal entry into the state to handling cases under the NDPS Act.
Synrem further emphasized that once such a unit is formed, it is essential that the officers involved receive proper training on how to combat drug trafficking under the NDPS Act.