AGARTALA: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb Wednesday claimed that crime against women in the north eastern state has reduced considerably after the BJP- IPFT government initiated a series of strict actions against illegal drug trade.
He criticised the erstwhile Left Front government in the state over its alleged inaction in illegal drug trade, which, the chief minister said, started in the Left regime.
Most incidents of crimes against women were directly related to drug use which has witnessed a significant fall in crimes against women since the new government started action against illegal drug use, Deb said inaugurating an event to mark International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking here.
Deb, who raised a slogan Nasha Mukta Tripura (Drug free Tripura) shortly after assuming office in March 2018, has claimed illegal drug trade has been reduced in the last one and half years by his government.
"We succeeded in combating cultivation of cannabis in reserve forest areas and also initiated strict action against smuggling of drugs across the state because we have taken the stand of zero tolerance to any kind of use of drugs".
After the use of drugs started reducing, the rate of crime against women also started falling, he said. The state government claimed to have seized nearly 80,000 metric tons of cannabis compared to records of the last ten years where the figures were less than 8,000.
The crackdown on drugs also yielded seizure of 75037.722 kg cannabis, 173,145 cough syrup bottles, 5, 19,274 Yabba tablets and 5413. 182 grams of heroin in the past one year.
Yabba tablets, known also as madness drug or Nazi speed, is a combination of a number of stimulants.
The two main substances that make up the drug are caffeine and methamphetamine, otherwise known as crystal meth. The users most commonly smoke the drug off tinfoil, though it can be ingested orally or crushed and snorted.
Officiating Director General of police, Rajiv Singh said cannabis cultivation started in Tripura since 2000 at Bishalghar and Sonamura of Sepahijala district. Drug cartels based in other states of the country are involved in running cannabis trade in Tripura, he added.