Uttarakhand police’s drive to check drug menace in the state faces a major roadblock. Officials in the state police department said that they were unable to curb the sources of drug supply, which have roots in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
The drugs, including smack, are being supplied to Uttarakhand mainly from Bareilly and Saharanpur districts of UP and curbing the menace was not on the priority list of the neighbouring state’s police, the police officials said.
“In almost all the arrests of drug peddlers selling smack, majority of them confessed to have bought the drug from UP’s Bareilly district. It is the manufacturing centre of this poison and hence easily available there at cheap prices, which the peddlers bring here to destroy youth,” said Hemendra Singh Negi, the station house officer of Raipur police station in Dehradun district.
In the recent arrests of drug peddlers in Dehradun, almost all of them during their interrogation told the police that they brought the drugs from UP at cheap prices to sell them in Dehradun at high prices. In one such case, recently the Kotwali police nabbed two accused, aged 20 and 18 years, allegedly with 17gm smack worth ₹1.30 lakh in the local market. The two accused, who hailed from Dehradun, told the police that they used to sell the drugs in Dehradun after buying it from the suppliers in Bareilly district of UP.
In another case, the Sahaspur police nabbed a 30-year-old man with 10gm smack, which, he said, had bought from UP’s Mirzapur district. Two days ago, the Raipur police also nabbed a drug supplier with about 5.10gm smack brought from Bareilly district of UP.
{{/usCountry}}In another case, the Sahaspur police nabbed a 30-year-old man with 10gm smack, which, he said, had bought from UP’s Mirzapur district. Two days ago, the Raipur police also nabbed a drug supplier with about 5.10gm smack brought from Bareilly district of UP.
{{/usCountry}}Negi said, “The cunning peddlers travel mainly through public transport means such as bus or train to bring the drug from UP to Dehradun, so as to evade police arrest by mixing among masses.”
Commenting on the issue, Uttarakhand’s additional director general of police (law & order) Ashok Kumar said, “Curbing the drug menace in the state is on a high priority of police, for which it is putting all-out efforts in nabbing the peddlers. So far, the local police, after arresting the peddlers, were not going after the main supply chain, which would now be changed after the recently formed three-tier anti-drug task force.”
He said the state police often co-ordinates with the police of Bareilly and Saharanpur districts of UP to curb the drug menace, but results are not satisfactory, as the “priorities of UP police are different”. “UP police in these two districts mainly focus on curbing communal tension and other serious crimes. Hence, they don’t give much priority to this problem, which is on our high priority. But we will increase the co-ordination with them and hit on the supply chain of the drugs to their roots,” he added.