Anti-drugs crusader turns peddler!

LAXMAN SHARMA

DIGBOI, May 27 - The recent arrest of Nomal Pegu, an anti-drugs campaigner with 10 grams of brown sugar by Jagun Police near the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border in Tinsukia district has obviously shocked the local people. Originally from Karpongpuli village of Lekhapani area, Nomal owns a grocery shop. Surprisingly, Nomal was a known face in the anti-drugs crusade. He was actively involved in various anti-drugs campaigns undertaken in the area. Of late, the drugs menace has literally engulfed the area. Interestingly, Nomal fell into the police dragnet during an operation near Lakla Tea Factory in connection with Lekhapani PS case No. 50/18 U/S-22(B) NDPS Act. �I have been peddling drugs since the last three months. Contacts from Digboi ferry the substance to Jagun for me, which I further push among consumers from nearby areas like Jairampur, Bordumsa, Miao, Kharsang and so on,� Nomal admitted. Meanwhile, boosting the morale of the remotely posted police personnel and officers striving hard along the porous Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border, Tinsukia Superintendent of Police Mugdhajyoti Mahanta appreciated the team effort and said that uprooting the drugs peddling menace and other crimes along the border is a herculean task which is being accomplished by the �men in khaki� alone. Unless the conscious section of people and responsible organisations come forward voluntarily to assist the Government agencies working on this front, it may prove to be an uphill task to curb this money-spinning business, he said. Adding fuel to the fire was the perennial problem of manpower shortage, the SP mentioned. Tinsukia district, it may be mentioned, is a highly sensitive area and is strategically located, sharing inter-district, inter-State and international boundaries, Mahanta remarked. �My district police team hardly gets time to sleep two hours per night,� he added.