The involvement of inter-state drug peddlers has been causing an increase in sale of narcotics near educational institutions, industrial establishments and other parts of the State capital.
Police arrested 210 drug peddlers from various parts of Dehradun and recovered 90.22 kg hashish, 1.84 kg smack and other narcotics worth Rs 2.45 crore from them last year.
Acting on tip off, Special Task Force (STF), Uttarakhand had busted an inter state drug trafficking gang, arresting three persons from the Vasant Vihar area with two kg of hashish on Wednesday. Statistics reveal that police generally arrest around one or two drug peddlers every three or 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 claimed that teams had arrested 210 drug peddlers in the last year, police are yet to arrest middlemen who supply it to students in Dehradun from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarkashi, Bareilly and other places.
Observers opined that the narcotics business is flourishing in Dehradun due to the large profits involved in this trade. Students residing in hostels are said to be the main consumers of these drugs. There has been an alarming increase in such cases over the years.
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 meeting with school and college authorities, we discussed increasing level of drugs usage amount the school and college students and directed them to install CCTV around the school campus and to carry out surprise checks occasionally apart from taking strict action such students who indulge in drug intake.”
“We have already issued instructions to the district police officers to suspend police station-in-charge if drug peddlers are caught supplying contraband in the area under their jurisdiction,” he added.