Two govt staff held for drug peddling in a week at Arunachal Civil Secretariat

Itanagar: Two government employees were arrested within a week for allegedly peddling drugs at the Arunachal Civil Secretariat, raising concerns over drug abuse and supply networks operating within the high-security premises, police said.

On Friday, Pankaj Lahkar (53), a dak runner in the power department, was nabbed with 46.11 grams of suspected cannabis during a routine security check at the Secretariat’s main gate, said an officer.

Lahkar, originally from Lahkarpara village under the Ghagrapar police station in Assam’s Nalbari district, was frisked by head constable Tago Nguki.

On Monday, a Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) member of the state’s horticulture department, Vicky Chetry (32), was apprehended with 44.36 grams of suspected heroin, drug paraphernalia, and cash worth ₹32,760.

The drugs have an estimated street value of around ₹3.7 lakh, the officer said.

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Acting on a tip-off received from a staffer, police raided the third floor of block number three, where a security officer had confined the suspect inside a bathroom. “The operation was led by Itanagar’s sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Kengo Dirchi,” Itanagar’s superintendent of police Rohit Rajbir Singh said.

The search was conducted in the presence of a magistrate and senior government officials. Eight plastic vials and a tobacco container filled with suspected heroin were seized. An additional 18 vials were recovered from behind a bathroom window after Chetry told the cops.

“Chetry was allegedly supplying drugs to several other contingency staffers at the Secretariat, including drivers, peons, and other MTS personnel, for over a year. At least five employees are suspected to have sourced narcotics from him. Despite the relocation of the horticulture department to Chimpu, Chetry continued to access the Secretariat using his valid security pass, allowing him to move freely without raising suspicion,” a police officer, requesting anonymity, said.

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Both cases are being investigated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Police are probing possible links to a larger supply network.

“These arrests reflect our ongoing commitment to keeping government premises drug-free,” SP Singh said, adding that the operations are a part of the Delhi Police’s anti-drug campaign, ‘Operation Dawn 2.0’.