Medicine to help kick drugs stolen from GNDH
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 28
Over 11,000 tablets of Buprenorphine kept at the Opioid Substitute Treatment (OST) centre inside Guru Nanak Dev Hospital were stolen by two unidentified persons last evening. Employees came to know about the theft when they opened the centre this morning.
The police have procured a CCTV footage of a camera installed inside the centre in which two persons who had covered their faces with cloth were seen taking out the tablets from cabinets. Another camera at the centre was broken by the culprits before entering the centre.
Centre in-charge Dr Rajiv Arora said 10,989 tablets of Buprenorphine 2 mg and 214 tablets of Buprenorphine 0.4 mg have been stolen. He said the stolen medicine costs around Rs 3.5 lakh for government facilities but it was worth over Rs 10 lakh in the market.
As per the time recorded by the CCTV camera, the theft occurred around 4 pm last evening. Fingerprint and forensic experts of the Police Department were seen looking for a clue to identify the thieves. Meanwhile, a police case against two unknown persons has been registered on the complaint of the hospital authorities.
The theft at the centre did not go down well with hordes of drug addicts, mostly heroin users, who were seen waiting outside the centre. Drug addicts come to the centre daily to get their dose of Buprenorphine as part of the Opioid Substitute Treatment for drug de-addiction.
Patients complained that in the absence of the daily dose it would be difficult for them to stay away from the drug. Police officials are suspecting hand of an insider in the theft.
“Whosoever the person is, he is well aware of the worth of the medicine. We have got some vital clues and hopefully the culprits would be nabbed,” said a police official present on the spot.
