The operations of inter-state drug peddlers have been causing an increase in sale of narcotics near educational institutions, industrial establishments and other parts of the State capital. Dehradun police arrested known drug peddler latif from Clement Town with 260 grammes hashish from his possession on Saturday. He was arrested in the past too with hashish.
Earlier on Friday, STF Uttarakhand along with Dehradun police arrested an inter-state drug peddler named Inaam, resident of Haridwar, from Vikasnagar and recovered 2.50 kg hashish and pharmaceutical drugs with an estimated value of about Rs 2.5 lakh in the international market.
During interrogation, he admitted his offence and said that he had brought the narcotics from Himachal Pradesh to supply in Dehradun. He was supposed to give it to a known drug peddler Taufiq, resident of Mehuwala, Patelnagar.
Statistics reveal that police arrest an average of one drug peddler every three to four days in the state capital. In all the cases, police had arrested the suppliers under sections 8/20/60 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and they were sent to Suddhowala Jail after being produced in the court.
Though Uttarakhand Director General of Police BS Sidhu recently claimed that teams had arrested 210 drug peddlers in the last year, police are yet to arrest many of those who supply narcotics to educational intuitions of Dehradun from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarkashi, Bareilly and other places. DGP Sidhu said that all possible steps have been taken to destroy the drug smuggling networks in the state capital. He expressed disappointment at increasing incidents of narcotics being sold near educational institutions, well-known private schools and colleges in Dehradun.
He said, “In a recent meeting with school and college authorities, we have discussed the increasing level of drug abuse by school and college students and directed them to install CCTV cameras around the school campus and to carry out surprise checks occasionally apart from taking strict action such students who indulge in drug abuse. We have already issued instructions to the district police officers to suspend police station-in-charge if drug peddlers are caught supplying in the area under their jurisdiction,” DGP added.
Observers opined that the contraband trade is flourishing in Dehradun due to the large scale profits involved in the trade. Students residing in hostels are said to be the lucrative targets of the peddlers.