Time and again, it has come to the fore that cultivation and smuggling of Ganja (dry cannabis) and other narcotics substances constitute a major part of funding of Naxals and other insurgency/terror groups in the country, including Odisha, Jharkhand or Jammu & Kashmir.
Putting a check on terror funding through drugs is a top priority and already discussions are underway with premier investigation agencies of the country to come up with a comprehensive strategy, said the newly appointed DG, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) DG SN in an exclusive interview with OTV.
The Odisha-born officer, who is also handling charge of Director General, NDRF, took over the additional charge of NCB head from IPS officer Rakesh Asthana last week.
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“Today, we have discussed the issues of terror funding through drugs and already we are working in close coordination with several agencies to put a check on cultivation of narcotics substances and related issues,” said Pradhan.
Already pin-point attacks are being conducted on source points of drugs based on credible intelligence.
“We hope in the next few months or years, we will definitely see a big impact on this aspect,” said Pradhan.
As India is a source, transit and user country for various narcotics substances, it will certainly be a challenge for the NCB to control the menace. “We hope to create a country-wide awareness drive on a national mission mode,” he added.
The NCB chief further said that the situation is really worrisome in several states across the country. A comprehensive strategy has been made to intensify crackdown on source and user states in different parts of the country, he added.
The NCB chief’s statement holds particular significance for Odisha in the backdrop of the unabated seizure of narcotics, including cannabis, brown sugar and heroin in the past several months. For the volume of the trade of Ganja emanating from Odisha, the State has assumed the notoriety of being the ‘Cannabis Capital’ of the country.