Police help junkies in going clean

Under fire for arresting drug addicts instead of the big fish, the local police have come forward to lend a hand to families of the addicts to encourage them to undergo rehabilitation.

Under fire for arresting drug addicts instead of the big fish, the local police have come forward to lend a hand to families of the addicts to encourage them to undergo rehabilitation.

On Wednesday, after counselling six drug addicts, the police sent them to the drug deaddiction centre near the Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) city-1 Amrik Singh Powar said, “When we initiated a drive against the drug menace and arrested several persons found possessing drugs, we were accused of arresting only addicts. Therefore, we decided to hold mohalla-level meetings with residents and asked for their suggestions to curtail the drug menace. We also appealed to them to help us in the project and provide any information that could help.”

As a result, several harried and helpless families of drug addicts contacted the police to help them send their addicted family members to de-addiction centres, Powar added. Of these six families from Daresi, Basti Jodhewal and Division Number 3 area contacted police through a local leader, Yashpal Chaudhary.

“We are happy to report that residents have also started giving information about drug peddling. But the best part is being able to help addicts leave dependence on drugs and turn over a new leaf,” he said, adding that six addicts had been sent to de-addiction centres after counselling.

Giving details of the counselling session, the ADCP said the addicts seemed to have a great urge to leave drugs, but were unable to do so as they suffered physical and mental discomfort whenever they took a step in that direction, adding that people who wanted to leave drugs could contact the police, who would provide them every possible help. There are two government-run de-addiction centres in the city, one at the civil hospital and another near it, which is managed by the Red Cross Society, besides numerous private centres.