Peddlers hiring kids to sell drugs

Prateek Chauhan
Tribune News Services
New Delhi, December 13

Peddlers have adopted new tactics to sell drugs in the city. Now they are hiring children for Rs 300 wage per day. This was disclosed by a 12-year-old boy who was caught recently while selling heroin.

The boy was produced in the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) where he said that he was not alone. Many other children are involved in it on daily wages.

After this disclosure, on complaint of Principal Judge of the JJB, a case was registered. During investigation police nabbed three women near Bhalswa Dairy. They prepare children for selling heroin. The alleged women used to target children from the age group of 8 to 14 years as at this age, children are very easily get into trapped. The arrested boy told the JJB that they were offered from Rs 200 to 300. The investigation revealed that the children engaged in this trade are from poor families.

According to the Delhi Police, after registering a case at the Bhalswa Dairy Police Station, when the police went to arrest 60-year-old Maksooda Bibi, 40 packets of heroin were seized from her possession. A separate case was registered against the alleged woman under the different section of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The matter was heard in the court of Additional Session Judge Bimala Kumari in the Rohini court.

The court has refused to allow any relief to the woman. She had prayed for relief on the bases of her old age. The court said that the crime she was doing, was unpardonable and she was playing with the future of children.