Video of woman ‘under influence of drugs’ goes viral, raids carried out in Amritsar

Raids carried out in Maqboolpura area in Amritsar East, which cops call a hotbed of drug smuggling, 15 detained

Swinging into action after the video of a woman purportedly under the influence of drugs went viral on social media, the Punjab Police carried out raids in Maqboolpura area, a “hotbed of drug smuggling”, and detained 15 people on Monday. They also seized 118g heroin from three of the detenues.

The widely circulated clip shows a young woman, who seems to be out of her senses, struggling to walk. The man recording the video is heard saying that the woman had “injected smack.” (Representative Image/HT File)

The widely circulated clip shows a young woman, who seems to be out of her senses, struggling to walk. The man recording the video is heard saying that the woman had “injected smack.” He specified that the video had been shot in Maqboolpura area, which falls under the Amritsar East constituency represented by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Jeevan Jyot Kaur.

Amritsar commissioner of police (CP) Arun Pal said, “The woman in the video had bought a small quantity of drugs from a woman drug peddler. Our teams are working to arrest the accused.”

Victim admitted to drug de-addiction centre

The victim, who hails from Sangrur district, has been admitted to a drug de-addiction centre in Amritsar. “The woman had come to Amritsar from Mumbai a few days ago and had been putting up near the Golden Temple. On September 9, she had gone to Maqboolpura, a hotbed of drug smuggling,” Pal said.

The video has also led to widespread criticism of the AAP-led state government and the Punjab Police for its failure to check drug menace in the state, with the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee general secretary Sarwan Singh Pandher saying that they will raise an agitation.

AAP in line of fire for failing to curb drug menace

Calling the video “disturbing,” he said, “It goes to show that our daughters are also not safe in Punjab. The AAP government came to power in the state by promising to eradicate drugs from the state, but has nothing to show for it so far.”

Since April 1, as many as 483 cases have been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Amritsar and 650 have been arrested for drug peddling, the commissioner of police said.

“Under a special campaign against drugs, 11.2 kg heroin, 7.9 kg opium and other narcotic contraband has been recovered. Moreover, 49 proclaimed offenders and absconders (under the NDPS Act) have been arrested. Last year, only 209 cases were registered against 409 people. However, this year 526 cases have been registered against 732 people,” he said.

In Maqboolpura alone, 43 cases have been registered against 60 people for smuggling or peddling drugs under the NDPS Act this year so far. Cops have recovered 609g heroin, 1.2kg opium and other drugs this year,” the police commissioner said, adding that only 20 cases were registered last year.