NCB to help state improve conviction rate

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Çhandigarh, June 18

Boasting of nearly 99 per cent conviction rate in NDPS cases, the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) would train Punjab Police officials on proper handling of legal cases to improve the state’s conviction rate from the present 75 per cent in drugs related cases.

Besides, Punjab is new focus area for the NCB, which has increased the staff strength by nearly three times to deal with anti-drugs operations.

The newly appointed Director-General of the NCB, Abhay, who is a 1986-batch IPS officer and goes by his single name, announced these new measures while presiding over a meeting with senior Punjab police officers, including DGP Dinkar Gupta and ADGP Gurpreet Deo, who heads the Special Task Force (STF) against drugs.

A spokesperson for the NCB said the director general held separate meetings with the BSF and Punjab Police in Amritsar on Monday.

The spokesperson said the NCB had about 99 per cent conviction rate of cases belonging to Punjab. On the other hand, Punjab has about 75 per cent rate. This has improved from nearly 50 per cent conviction rate reported five years ago.

The NCB had set up two full zones in Chandigarh and Amritsar with a staff strength of 110 now. Earlier, it had 40 employees of different ranks.

The NCB in meeting with the BSF took stock of the cross-border smuggling and how to fine tune prevention of the attempt to smuggle drugs into Punjab.