BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to ensure drugs are not used as a freebie like liquor during elections, Odisha Police on Friday requested its West Bengal counterpart to take stringent action against narcotics smuggling and supply through the neighbouring state.
Sources said peddlers in Balasore district bordering West Bengal mostly procure brown sugar from Lalgola in Murshidabad district and Bardhaman. Odisha Police took up the matter with its West Bengal counterpart on the day during a meeting held via virtual mode.
DGP Arun Kumar Sarangi requested West Bengal DGP Sanjay Mukherjee to take action against the brown sugar suppliers. Sources said Balasore police have conducted spider mapping of drug peddlers operating from the district.
“The peddlers procure the narcotics from West Bengal and it is then supplied to various parts of Odisha. A spider mapping was done to identify the peddlers operating from Jaleswar and Arad Bazaar areas in Balasore and at least 50 names were put on the list,” said a senior police officer.
Out of them, around 36 have already been arrested and efforts are on to nab the remaining ones. This year, seven cases of brown sugar smuggling have been registered in Balasore district. In all the cases, backward (procurement source) and forward linkages (customers) were looked into.
It was felt only taking action against drug peddlers here was not sufficient to curb the menace due to which Odisha Police requested its West Bengal counterpart to go after the suppliers in their state, said the officer. Around 11 check-gates have been set up in Balasore and three in Mayurbhanj’s areas bordering West Bengal.
On the day, both the police forces also held discussions to nab inter-state criminals and intensify checking in bordering areas to stop transportation of illicit liquor, ganja, arms and illegal cash. Police forces of the two states have decided to share intelligence on sensitive matters and information on high value UPI transaction during elections.
Besides, both the state police forces have decided to work together to ensure there are no incidents related to political violence or sharing of fake news on social media.
Odisha Police had earlier held a coordination meeting with their Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh counterparts.