Gangtok, Jan 12 (PTI) Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang on Tuesday said that all police personnel of the state will face mandatory drug test and those failing it will lose their jobs.

Expressing concern that several police personnel in the Himalayan state have been found to be using narcotic drugs, Tamang directed DGP A Shankar Rao to start the drug test as soon as possible.

"A mandatory drug test will be held for all police personnel of the state. Anyone found to be using drugs will be compulsorily retired from service," the chief minister said at a programme at Rangpo in East Sikkim district bordering West Bengal.

The state government wants a strict and vigilant police force and this test will discourage them to use narcotics drugs in future, Tamang said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)