HT Impact: Inquiry confirms sports hostel has turned into drug haven
Following Hindustan Times report on government sports hostel building at Dhudike village being turned into a haven for drug addicts, an inquiry was ordered and it confirmed the story. The hostel is situated opposite to the Lala Lajpat Rai Government College.
Following Hindustan Times report on government sports hostel building at Dhudike village being turned into a haven for drug addicts, an inquiry was ordered and it confirmed the story. The hostel is situated opposite to the Lala Lajpat Rai Government College.
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“It has been revealed by confidential sources that the abandoned government sports hostel is being utilised by the students and villagers of Dhudike and Madhoke for smuggling and consuming drugs especially in the evening,” reads the inquiry report by the sub divisional magistrate (SDM) Moga Surinder Kaur.
“Three families from Dhudike and Madhoke villages are involved in the drug smuggling business, who supply drugs to the students during evening time at the abandoned building,” report further reads.
SDM stated that according to sources most of the people of both villagers knew that drugs were being smuggled or supplied in the building.
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Taking cognisance of SDM’s report, deputy commissioner (DC) Kuldeep Singh Vaid directed the senior superintendent of police (SSP) Moga Harjit Singh Pannu to follow the case and take action against accused persons so that he could send report to the chief secretary Punjab.
Police failure?
The findings in report, including that villagers being aware about the drug menace in their village and the hostel, has raised question marks on the police.
The district police, which claimed to have conducted number of raids in the abandoned hostel, have failed to nab even a single person from there excusing that whenever the police conducted raid, addicts managed to flee from there.
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Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Nihal Singh Wala Surinder Kumar said that following orders from SSP, he along with the raiding party searched the premises but found nothing.
“It is for sure that drug addicts use this place to consume drugs as the police have found syringes, empty bottles of soda and liquor and other things during raid, but they always manage to flee from the spot,” he said, adding that now he has asked SHO Ajitwal to raid the building randomly two time a day.
The hostel was built in the 1980s to accommodate hockey players of Lala Lajpat Rai Government College at the village. It has 26 rooms spread over four acres and is in a dilapidated condition.
Kulwant Singh Pannu, a retired coach who served the college for 21 years, said the institute used to have one of the best hockey teams in the country. In 1990s, the team remained in the list of SAIL Nehru Champion Colleges, and players such as Manjit Singh, Harjit Singh, Manveer Singh and Kuldeep Singh played for the nation, said Pannu.