Alappuzha: Raising a question over the burgeoning use of narcotics among youngsters, the number of cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act) has doubled last year compared to previous years.
The trend of rising cases has been recorded in the wake of the government introducing its new liquor policy shutting down all bars barring the ones in five-star hotels.
As per the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) data, 4105 cases were registered under the act last year while it was 2239 in the previous year.
Dr Nisha, district coordinator, Vimukti, an Alappuzha district administration's mission to make it a tobacco and drugs-free district, the ban on liquor bars is the reason for the increasing use of drugs including ganja among youngsters.
Apart from this, the lack of awareness and easy accessibility of the drugs at a reasonable rate also act as a catalyst in spreading the habit, she said. “So, it is easy for a liquor addict to switch his habit to drugs. However, the district administration has already taken steps to form panchayath committees to root out the mafia sprouting in rural areas”, she says.
While till 2013, the number of cases was below thousand, it has shown a huge difference by 2015. As per SCRB data, the number of cases in 2013 was 974.
Mr D Mohanan, Deputy Superintendents of Police (Dy.SP), Narcotic Cell, here, points out that the spurt could be the result of intensified raids under operations such as Operation Suraksha and ‘Safe Campus, Clean Campus’
A Abdul Kalam, Deputy Excise Commissioner, admits the spurt in cases in the wake of the ban on liquor. “Last month we had carried out over 1399 raids across the district. In fact the increasing figures indicate that coordinated efforts have worked,” he says.
