Steel City cops nab 64 people, seize huge amt of drugs during 6-month-long drive

Jamshedpur: The Steel City police have nabbed 64 persons and seized over 400gm of brown sugar and more than 63kg of marijuana during its six-month-long drive against drug trafficking from January to June.
SSP M Tamil Vanan has said most of the arrests were made from Jugsalai, Sitaramdera and Mango police station areas, though arrests and seizures have also been reported in Bistupur, Burmamines, Kadma, Sonari and Bagbera police station areas. He added, “Intelligence gathering and patrolling across several police station areas was expedited following the initial seizures and this helped in strengthening the vigilance system and thereby, led to the arrests.”
Vanan further said that they have filed cases under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
The cops were taken aback upon seeing the number of women who were arrested for being involved in the brown sugar racket. Of all the women arrested till now, nine have already been forwarded to jail. Police don’t rule out the fact that smugglers use women for drug peddling to hoodwink the cops by assuming that police will not suspect the women.
Asked about the reason behind the high occurrence of drug trafficking in the city, a police inspector preferring anonymity said, “The city’s proximity to towns like Adityapur, Chandil, Chaibasa and Ghatshila give an easy access to the smugglers here which is the main reason why cases of drugs peddling have gone up.”
Vanan assured that with continuous improvisation of the beat policing and intelligence gathering system, the problem of drug trafficking will be addressed more effectively in the coming days.
Meanwhile, a rehabilitation centre here named Crisis Intervention Centre (CIC), also known said that number of youngsters becoming drug addicts has gone up amid the pandemic. “Over the past year, on an average, six addicts, including both alcohol and drug addicts, have visited our centre daily for counselling,” CIC coordinator Kanchan Kumar said.
He said out of the 20 addicts presently admitted at the centre, 12 are in the age group of 18 to 30. “Some of the addicts also indulged in petty crime to arrange funds for the drugs,” Kanchan added.
Dr Mahesh Hembram, who has a specialisation in alcohol de-addiction and drug de-addiction, said mental stress caused by various kinds of losses, be it financial or personal, during Covid is also one of the factors pushing up the consumption of contraband substances in the city. "Covid-linked stress has contributed marginally in driving youngsters towards addiction,” he said. He added that every month, on an average, 30 persons suffering from drug addiction come to him for help.
Dr Hembram said drugs were prevalent in the city in the past as well but with the police becoming proactive in its crackdown on drug smuggling now, the number of arrests have gone up.
Besides the police action, a dedicated de-addiction hospital is required to deal with the addicts and awareness and counselling sessions at school and colleges will nip the problem in its bud, Dr Hembram said.