Imphal, November 30: Despite the enforcement of the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in the State for the last 17 years and despite the regular arrests of drug peddlers by the police and personnel of NAB, the conviction rate of drug peddlers is extremely low and during the last 17 years only 36 peddlers have actually been convicted.

Lying close to the infamous Golden Triangle and with a porous international border, Manipur is the ideal transit point for drugs to be shipped out from the drug producing region to the outside world.

To check the menace of drug smuggling, the Government has set up a number of agencies and even the underground organisations are known to have awarded the death penalty to drug dealers, but despite this, the conviction rate of drug dealers is extremely low, thereby raising a number of questions.

The Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPSA) was enforced in Manipur in 1987 and a number of agencies including the State police have been activated to check the flourishing drug trade.

Speaking to The Sangai Express a well placed source said that ever since the NDPSA was enforced, the police have registered 800 cases and submitted 550 charge sheets against drug dealers.

However the conviction rate has been extremely low with only 36 being convicted till date, added the source.

To give more teeth to the police and the other law enforcing law agencies to deal with the drug menace, the Government set up a Special NDPSA Court.

However it has become some sort of a practice for the police and the other agencies to take ages to file a case at this Court, said the source and added that this has also raised a number of eyebrows.

The drugs seized from the dealers are sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory at Pangei to test the seized items, informed the source.

This lab is under the State Police Department.

The source further said that the lab also takes a lot to time to conduct the required test on the seized items and questioned why this is so.

Till date the results of over 120 cases are pending with the laboratory.

This automatically raises the question, why should the laboratory take so to conduct the required test? Of the eighty drug related cases registered with both Imphal East and West police in the last three years, only six have been convicted, said the source.

In Imphal alone the police have registered over 79 drug related cases during the last few years.

The charge sheets in connection with these cases have all been submitted, informed the source.

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