A Tripura police officer has been arrested by police along with his sister-in-law on charges of being involved in drug smuggling, said police here on Wednesday.
A report published on Wednesday by New Indian Express stated that cash amounting to Rs 10 lakh was recovered from the house of the Tripura Police official, who has been identified as Sub-Inspector Sushil Debbarma.
Debbarma was posted in the Special Branch of Tripura Police.
After the arrest of Debbarma, a total of 16 policemen including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and several Sub-Inspectors and Assistant Sub-Inspectors of police have been either arrested or suspended from service for their alleged involvement in smuggling of drug.
The report quoted a police official as saying: “Acting on a tip, a police team led by Inspector Subrata Chakraborty raided the houses of Sushil Debbarma and his sister-in-law Madhuri Debbarma on Tuesday night. Rs 10 lakh and some valuables were recovered from the house of the police officer.”
The police official, as per the report, also said that the duo along with Madhuri’s sister Laxmi Debbarma were reportedly involved in drug smuggling. Laxmi has been absconding and the police are searching for her.
The official also revealed: “During interrogation, Madhuri admitted that she, along with her sisters, was involved in the smuggling of drugs. She said that the money earned from the illegal trade was kept in her brother-in-law’s house here.”
According to the police, the duo was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
It may be mentioned Biplab Kumar Deb, after taking oath as the Chief Minister of Tripura, vowed to wipe out drug menace in the State.
The report also quoted an official of the Home Department as saying that following the directions of Chief Minister Deb, who also holds the home portfolio, the security agencies comprising State and central para-military forces, along with the district administrations, launched a war against the cultivation, trade and smuggling of drugs, especially cannabis.
“Various security agencies in the last nine months have seized huge quantities of numerous drugs valued at over Rs 40 crore,” the official also said.
The officer further said: “Different security agencies in the past nine months have seized 65,000 kg of dry cannabis (ganja), over two crore ganja plants, one lakh bottles of various types of cough syrups (that serve as intoxicants), 1.65 lakh habit-forming tablets, 2,626 grams of brown sugar and heroin in Tripura.”
Chief Minister Deb, who pledged to make Tripura a “drug-free state”, said here on Tuesday that during the short period of nine months, over 200 people who were involved in the drug trade had been jailed.
Deb while addressing a function here on Tuesday also claimed: “As drug related activities were reduced, 40 per cent atrocities on women and 10 per cent incidents of rape of young girls have decreased.”