Dist admin forms narcotic cell to make English Bazar Municipality area drug-free

Malda: The district administration has constituted a narcotics cell to make the English Bazar Municipality area drug-free.

The cell that was constituted on Tuesday has representatives from the Police department, English Bazar Municipality and Transport department. It is headed by Piyush

Salunkhe, Additional District Magistrate (general).

The EBM area has been divided into several zones to ensure close vigilance on the movement of drug peddlers.

Several areas of the EBM area have been identified where the selling of contraband items takes place. Some pocket areas have been brought under the red zone and regular police operations will continue in those areas. During the investigation of the murder of a minor girl of North Baluchar area by her cousin brother on January 29, the accused was found to be a drug addict.

Previously, several rehabilitation centers of the district were closed or regularised by the district monitoring team.

The police have also seized narcotics on a near regular basis. Nitin Singhania said: “The murder of the teenage girl has nothing to do with the formation of a narcotic cell. We have been working against drugs for two years. We have contacted several rehabilitation centers. A meeting has also been held with them. We are trying to make drug addicts recover by sending them to rehabilitation centres. A narcotic cell is formed. Several departments, including police, municipality have been included in the cell.”

Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, chairman of EBM, said: “We have divided the EBM area into four zones and the vulnerable areas have been marked red. We will form one committee in each zone. People from different walks of life will be kept in this committee. This committee will play a major role in building a drug-free city.”