Drugs worth over Rs 1,610 cr seized by Assam Rifles in Manipur since July 2022
Drugs worth more than Rs 1,610 crore have been seized by the Assam Rifles between July 2022 and July this year in Manipur, according to data provided by the paramilitary force. In the financial years 2021-22 and 2020-21, it seized drugs worth Rs 850 crore and Rs 1,200 crore, respectively. However, official sources said the Assam Rifles — a border guarding force — primary mandate or task is not drug law enforcement.
«That is the responsibility of the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) and the state police. However, the routes, conduits, and funding for terrorism, weapons, and drugs are common at times. Hence, in the process of catching terrorists, the Assam Rifles ends up catching drug smugglers.
In all such cases, they are handed over to police,» a source in the security establishment said. «The deployment posture along the Indo-Myanmar border has been strengthened ever since the crisis began in May. Ethnic violence, while necessitating a focus on hinterland security, has also led to an increase in security forces, which, in some way, would have countered drug trafficking as a second-order effect,» the source said.
More than 160 people have lost their lives and several hundreds have been injured since the ethnic clashes broke out in the northeastern state on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals — Nagas and Kukis — constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.
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