Cops nab 2 for selling drugs to students in Park Circus

KOLKATA: Drug abuse at schools and colleges came to focus again on Saturday after the narcotics team of the detective department arrested two peddlers from Darga Road near Park Circus and seized brown sugar worth Rs 50,000 from them. Based on the arrested duo’s interrogation, police are now trying to identify the students — to whom drugs were sold — for counselling.
On Friday night, cops arrested Asgar Hossain (46) and Arshad Hossain (40) for trying to sell narcotics in the area. Cops were on alert for the past few days, following inputs that a drug racket had become active in the area and that peddlers were trying to sell drugs to students and youths. During searches, police confiscated 50 grams of brown sugar worth Rs 50,000 from their possession.
“During interrogation, they confessed to selling brown sugar in Park Circus area. There are a number of renowned schools in that area,” a Lalbazar officer said. The duo also gave details of some students who were their customers. Cops are in touch with the respective educational institutions for counselling of the students.
Barely a month ago, the Kolkata Police arrested five youths from a Sarat Bose Road office and busted a racket active in the southern part of the city. Based on the statements of the youths, cops then nabbed three drug dealers from S P Mukherjee Road. Cops came across names of students at some of the south Kolkata colleges who procured drugs from them.
Use of sophisticated drugs like MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) among students came under the law enforcement agencies’ lens after the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) made a few arrests in 2017 and got hold of a large database of student customers from five colleges in the city. The incident prompted NCB officials to hold meetings with the college authorities and parents of the students. The central agency also found that drug-laced sweets and chocolates were being sold near some schools in Kolkata. This prompted Association of Heads of ICSE Schools to step up vigil on the hawkers selling food outside campuses.
In February, cops busted another racket active in central Kolkata and arrested two persons. The duo said that they were selling drugs to the students at schools and colleges in and around Sealdah. “Regular arrests being made based on inputs. Apart from the crackdown, we need to make the students and parents aware about the situation,” an officer said.