J-K Police wages war against drug menace in Bandipora

Bandipora (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], October 5 : The Jammu and Kashmir Police is confronted by the challenge of curbing the "scourge of drugs" which was feared to be rampant in Bandipora.
"People for the past several years had feared that the scourge of drugs was rampant in the district and wanted to curb it as much as possible by the administration," said a report.
In a bid to curb the impact of drugs on the youth, the Bandipora police led by Senior Superintendent of Police Bandipora, Mohammad Zahid proceeded with the action while Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySP) Headquarters Shafat Mohmad put the responsibility of this task on his shoulders to fight this battle, according to the report.
"In Bandipora's main town, one of the localities known as ward number-6 was the most infamous for the drug scourge on which the senior citizens were always concerned. Even, parents did not want their children to pass through this area," the report quoted a local Abul Majeed as saying.
A post-graduation student in social works at Kashmir university, Tabasum Jan said that she always heard about the Bandipora district being known for A'lim (knowledge or education hub).
"However, at the same time, she also used to hear that the district is losing its educational identity and the reason for which everyone was telling the spread of the drug curse," said the report.
She said that the J-K Police has waged a war against the menace of drugs and it has been successful.
"For the past few days I have been hearing that big drug dealers are being caught including some women who were always evading the police," the report quoted the student as saying.
While giving details, the district Police chief Mohammad Zahid said that 58 NDPS cases were registered since 2021 and 82 drug peddlers which includes some big infamous peddlers were arrested.
He said that 14.5 gm brown sugar, 22, 281spasmoproxyvon tablets, 1534 codeine bottles, xxx RUM bottles, around 2 KG charas, 32 KG 610 gm of charas powder, 30 Tramafar injections, 11 KG bung leaves and 4.500 poppy straw were recovered since last years.
According to a senior police official, the police had got the information recently that the young students were being involved in the curse of drugs by taking the codeine bottles. The police proceeded with the action and raided a house in the Kuloosa locality and about 1,300 bottles were recovered from the spot. Two drug peddlers were also arrested.
According to the report, on September 28, the police said that they arrested a notorious female drug peddler identified as Posha Begum hailing from Bandipora, who was evading arrest after she managed to escape on August 25 during a raid on a residential house, and a case was registered in PS Bandipora.
"Keeping the sensitivity of matter in mind, a special investigation team was constituted to trace her by district police chief under the supervision of DYSP HQRS Bandipora Shafat Mohmad," it said.
"The police said that she was produced before the Hon'ble court Bandipora and was granted judicial remand," it added.
Earlier, last week the district police had organised an anti-drug awareness programme 'Prevention of drug addiction' under the banner of Nasha Mukht Abhiyan Diwas at Police stations Pethkote and Aragam respective, said the report.
The programme was organised by police with the motive of generating awareness among vulnerable age groups about the ill effects of drug addiction to seek the cooperation of society in eradicating the social evils prevailing in society, particularly the menace of drugs.
Detailed deliberations on various aspects of drug addiction and preventive measures especially in youth were also made while participants pledged to never indulge in any kind of substance abuse. The participants thanked the Bandipora Police for conducting such awareness programmes and building a bridge of trust between the police and the youth.
Meanwhile, the Bandipora police have said that they are determined to eradicate the drug scourge from its roots while its ecosystem will be destroyed.
"No one in the district will be spared under any circumstances regarding the drug scourge," it said while appealing to people to cooperate with the police to eradicate the drug menace in the district.
"In a bid to eradicate drug menace from the society, lot many counselling sessions were organized by the police in several areas of the district," the report quoted the official as saying.