Over 40% of the total inmates in Himachal jails arrested in NDPS cases

Shimla: Drug abuse has become a major challenge in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh and over 40 per cent of the total inmates lodged in 14 prisons in the state have been booked in connection with drugs under NDPS Act.

The prisons in Himachal are overcrowded as 2,909 inmates are lodged against the capacity of 2,437 of which 68 per cent are under trial and 32 per cent are convicted. Out of the total 2,909 inmates 1,189 (40.8 per cent) were arrested in drug-related cases, officials said.

A total of 7,942 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases were pending in the courts as on November 18, out of which 688 were pending for less than three months, 664 for three to six months, 935 for six months to one year, 953 for 12 months to 18 months, 1,110 for 18 months to two years and 3,601 were pending for more than two years.

Over 40 per cent of the total inmates lodged in 14 prisons in the state have been booked in connection with drugs under NDPS Act, the officials said.

As speedy trials would also help in decongesting the jails in the state, the Himachal Pradesh Police have implemented a 'Robust Trial Management' mechanism under which deposition by police officials and independent witnesses in the courts is being reviewed every week to ensure speedy trials in the NDPS cases.

Himachal police are the first in the country to start robust trial management and the police officers have been directed to depose on time to reduce the pendency of the NDPS cases. As many as 8,734 police personnel have been deposed from March 29, 2021, till November 18, 2022, Himachal DGP Sanjay Kundu told the PTI.

Our initiative has started yielding results and 346 cases have been decided in the first ten months of 2022 till October 31 as compared to 202 in 2020 and 126 persons have been convicted in NDPS cases in the current year in comparison to 64 in 2020, he said.

The weekly and cumulative record of the number of Police Officers and witnesses deposed in the courts under the NDPS Act, pending deposition, processes served to witnesses and the number of cases in which charge sheet has been submitted by the police for trial is being maintained, to expedite trials.

There are 2,307 drug trafficking operators (drug peddlers) in the state out of which 80 per cent (1,836) are from Himachal, 18 per cent (422) are from other states and two per cent (49) are foreigners, according to the data procured from the police department.

About 60 per cent of the drug peddlers in Himachal have taken to Chitta (adulterated heroin) smuggling for pecuniary gains, adding a new dimension to the drug menace in the state and Chitta consumption has surpassed all other drugs.

On average, over 1,500 NDPS cases are registered in the state every year with over 2,000 arrests.

As many as 1,732 persons were arrested in 1,195 NDPS cases in the first ten months of 2022 till October end and the police have seized 274 kgs charas, 31 kgs opium, 306 kgs poppy husk, 164 kgs Ganja, smack and cocaine, 7.9 kgs of heroin (chitta) and 30,152 capsules and tablets and destroyed 70,602 poppy plants and 47,737 cannabis plants, officials added.