Drug peddlersrs a challenge to SSB

Drug peddlers, active on the Indo-Nepal border, pose a serious challenge to the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Bihar police personnel.

Drug peddlers, active on the Indo-Nepal border, pose a serious challenge to the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Bihar police personnel. The seizure of narcotics valued at Rs 41.56 crore in the last eight months points to a serious problem along the porous border.

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Over 300 kgs of charas, 2140 grams of smack, 2730 grams of brown sugar, 20,455 kgs of ganja, 3464 grams of opium, 750 grams of heroin and 10.7 quintals of opium chilka have been seized from the bordering districts of the state.

"All the border outposts have been put on maximum alert in view of seizure of a large quantity of narcotics from the bordering areas," said IG, SSB, Frontier Headquarters, Shyam Kumar. He said that Maoist activities had shot up in recent past, forcing the SSB officials to intensify patrolling on the border.

The maximum narcotic seized was from the Narkatiaganj-Raxaul area. "Efforts are on to strengthen the intelligence wing of the force to check trans- border activities," he said, adding that 482 persons have been arrested for their involvement in smuggling of narcotics and other contraband goods.

The SSB is now contemplating to nail the kingpin of the gang involved in narcotics trade. "In most of the cases, only carriers have been caught while active members have gone scot free. Now instructions have been issued to the personnel manning BoPs to focus their attention on the big fishes," the IG said.

Eleven battalions of the SSB have been deployed on the Indo-Nepal border. "The number is insufficient to man the BoPs," he said, adding that a proposal to increase the strength of the force has been submitted to the headquarters.