Cases on rise, North region police step up crackdown on drug peddlers, consumers

“Drug addicts are dangerous not just for other people but for the harm that they cause to themselves as well. Many of our constables have been attacked by drug addicts during attempts to nab them,” said Jadhav who was heading the Anti Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, before taking over the North region.

According to the police, many youngsters in the areas of Malwani and Kurar have been caught consuming MDMA-Methylone, MD for short, which is not in the list of illegal drugs under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. To overcome this technicality, the police in the North region have now started invoking section 328 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), that charges the accused for causing hurt by means of poison etc, with an intent to commit offence.

The legal definition of the section states that whoever administers any poison, or any stupefying, intoxicating or unwholesome drug, with intent to cause hurt to a person, or with intent to commit or to facilitate the commission of a crime, can be booked under this section.
“The definition applies to peddlers as well as to consumers of MD, as they commit various crimes under the influence of the drug as well as to fuel their drug habit,” said an officer. In the past two months, the police have arrested seven people under section 328 of the IPC for consumption of MDMA. Meanwhile, the police have also written to the government, asking that MDMA be made illegal as per the NDPS Act.

megha.sood@expressindia.com