Agartala, Sep 30 (IANS): Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Monday asked the police department to take more proactive steps against peddling of drugs and increase the conviction rate for various crimes in close consultation with lawyers.

After reviewing the state's law and order situation at the Police Headquarters, the Chief Minister said seizure of drugs and destruction of seized items are the highest in Tripura among the northeastern states.

"Tripura has been used as a corridor for illegal drug trade. I have asked the police to go to the depth of the matter, and take appropriate actions against the drug peddlers, and those behind the unlawful business and smuggling," CM Saha, who also holds the Home portfolio, said.

The Tripura Chief Minister said that the BJP government is committed to zero tolerance against illegal drug-related activities.

The police officers should closely study the cases under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985 so that the culprits get punishment, thereby curbing the menace of drugs that cause harm to the people, especially youth, Manik Saha said.

Claiming that Tripura is among the leading states in the country in controlling crime, the Chief Minister asked the senior police officers to maintain close coordination with the lawyers so that the conviction rate for various crimes can be increased to a satisfactory extent.

CM Saha also told the police that by maintaining thorough transparency, old cases related to murders, killings, rapes, atrocities and political violence that happened during the Left and Congress regimes, must be re-opened to give justice to the victims and affected people.

Saying that full autonomy has been granted to the police force to take actions against the wrongdoers, the Chief Minister claimed that the police were "used as political tools during previous regimes".

"Our government would not compromise in maintaining a law and order situation and dealing with crimes," he stated.

Director General of Police Amitabh Ranjan said that compared to the scenario that existed 10 years ago and even two-three years ago, the overall crime scenario of the state has significantly improved during the past several months.

The police officer also said that security along the 856-km-long state's India-Bangladesh border with Tripura would be further enhanced with the help of central security forces including Border Security Forces (BSF).

The Chief Minister's review meeting on the state's law and order situation has been held a week after the opposition Congress in Tripura took out a massive protest rally and gheraoed the Tripura Police headquarters here over the alleged "deteriorating law and order situation", while also demanding strict action against the perpetrators who are involved in a series of crimes including lynching.

The CPI-M also announced that it would hold a statewide mega rally here on October 3 in protest against the "deteriorating law and order situation" in Tripura.