16 rescued from drug rehab centre

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 26

A team of the district administration rescued 16 inmates of a private rehabilitation centre near Meera Kot village and shifted them to government-run Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction centre here on Wednesday.

The surprise check was conducted after the district administration received reports of inhumane treatment of inmates. The Deputy Commissioner constituted a team of senior officials for the purpose.

Assistant Civil Surgeon Kirandeep Kaur, who led the inspection team, said that out of 26 inmates at New Life Rehabilitation Centre, 16 reported about abuse in the form of manhandling. She stated that the remaining 10 did not report any abuse.

The other team members included SDM Shivraj Bal, DSP Manpreet Shinhmar, psychiatrist Dr Satyarth and Amardeep Singh.

Though the centre is registered with the government, many inmates reported that they were being given a tablet everyday which they were asked to keep under the tongue. Health officials say the owner of the centre did not give any satisfactory answer about the tablet after which they had decided to conduct a dope test of the inmates. Officials said the mandate of rehabilitation was different from a de-addiction centre and an investigation to know if the centre was overstepping its mandate would be conducted.

A police complaint has also been filed against the centre owner, said Civil Surgeon Hardeep Singh Ghai. He said people should prefer government-run OOAT and drug de-addiction and rehabilitations centres over the private centres to save them from being fleeced and ill treated. The district is running 10 OOAT centres and two de-addiction centres.

Earlier on June 13, the Health Department had sealed an illegal drug de-addiction centre, being run from a secluded farmhouse in Rajewal village of Jandiala Guru, and rescued 26 inmates after reports of inhuman treatment.

Surprise check

Assistant Civil Surgeon Kirandeep Kaur, along with SDM Shivraj Bal, DSP Manpreet Shinhmar, psychiatrist Dr Satyarth and Amardeep Singh, conducts surprise inspection at a private rehabilitation centre near Meera Kot village. Inmates have been shifted to government-run Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction centre. Officials had got a tip-off regarding inhumane treatment of inmates following which the inspection was conducted.