Tripura will be a drug-free state: Deb

 Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Saturday said he will "not comprise" on drugs and vowed to make Tripura a drug-free state.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave East 2018, Deb said: "We have found 50,000 kg of ganja, which was cultivated illegally in different parts of Tripura. Small-scale farmers will buy this ganja for Rs 500 to Rs 700 from this organised group and then it travels to Bihar and other states.

"Poor people of Tripura will not get anything out of this, the middleman, the mafia are the ones who reap the benefit. I will not compromise, Tripura must be a drug-free state." 

To reduce the drug menace, Deb said he had to arrest 204 people, including 70 police officers associated with the illegal drug trade.

In September after a Union home ministry advisory claimed that Deb has a threat from Myanmar-based drug mafia, the state has stepped up security for the Chief Minister.- IANS