EOU: 1,946 people arrested under NDPS Act till Aug

Patna: The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police has arrested 1,946 people in 1,376 cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act till Aug this year, while 463 more accused area yet to be nabbed in connection to these, Manavjit Singh Dhillon, DIG, EOU, said. Three major drug traffickers — Dilip Sao and Raja Ram Rai from Patna, and Prabhakar Choudhary from Madhubani — have also been detained under the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in NDPS Act, he added.“From Jan to Aug 2025, large quantities of illegal drugs were seized, including 17,595kg ganja, over 307kg of charas, 43kg heroin, 1,800kg doda, 29kg opium, 2,35,357 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup, 3,01,373 narcotic tablets and 14,806 injections,” Dhillon said.As much as 1,826kg ganja, 35kg charas, over 1kg heroin and 253 litres of cough syrup were destroyed in 53 cases.Meanwhile, the DIG added illegal opium cultivation, mainly in Gaya, Rohtas and Bhojpur, has been drastically reduced. “In the 2024-25 crop year, cultivation on 1,041 acres was destroyed — 1,037 acres in Gaya, 3.84 acres in Rohtas and 0.56 acres in Bhojpur — resulting in 47 cases. This is nearly half of last year’s figure of 2,525 acres destroyed,” the DIG said.This Sept, the state has formed a new Prohibition and State Narcotics Control Bureau by merging Anti-narcotics Task Force and Prohibition Unit. All district Anti-liquor Task Forces now also serve as Anti-narcotics Task Forces.The bureau, headed by an additional director general of police, operates through a special statewide police station.To speed up trials, seven exclusive NDPS courts have also been established: two each in East Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Patna, and one in West Champaran.