Girls not just addicts, drug peddlers too

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 5

She is addicted to heroin for the past four years. Some paying guests in Sector 22 here supply the contraband to her daily. And she is not only an addict. She is also into drug trafficking not only to bear the high cost of her daily dose but also to meet her other expenses.

This sordid tale of a 19-year-old girl, admitted to a drug de-addiction and psychiatric centre at the Panchkula General Hospital, revealed how young and needy girls were not only turning addicts but also falling prey to the illegal drug trade.

One among many such young and needy girls, she shared her tale of woe with the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM)-cum-Secretary, District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Panchkula, Nidhi Bansal, who paid a surprise visit to the de-addiction centre on Monday.

A total of 13 drug addicts, including two young girls, are at present undergoing rehabilitation at the de-addiction centre.

She told the district judge that not only boys but many young girls her age were drug addicts and were also engaged in the business of buying and supplying narcotic drugs to meet their requirement of money for purchasing the contraband and for other needs.

“Most of us are school and college dropouts and are aged between 16 and 20 years,” the young girl said, while revealing that in case of non-availability from local dealers, sometimes they also purchased drugs from a Nigerian at Dwarka in New Delhi.

A male addict, aged 25, told the CJM that he was addicted to opium for the past five years. “It is being sold openly at Joluwal village at Pinjore, Kalka and border villages of Pinjore at prices ranging between Rs 300 and Rs 3,000 per 10 gm,” he said.

Another 28-year-old addict disclosed that he was a mechanic, having a monthly income of Rs 25,000, and was addicted to heroin, costing about Rs 30,000 per month. His mother, who was attending to him at the centre, told the district judge that he did not give anything at home; rather he took money from her on the pretext of his business. The addict told the CJM that the heroin was being supplied openly at Mani Majra and he was making payments for it through Paytm and other mobile applications.

Another patient disclosed that he was addicted to heroin. He and his father were running a shop in Kalka. He started using heroin with his common friends on New Year’s Eve last year. All his income from the shop was going into the purchase of the drug, which he used to order over the telephone.

An addict from Chandigarh disclosed that the drugs were being supplied on the Punjab-Chandigarh border near a police naka close to the new IRB building in the Mullanpur area. “As and when police parties from Punjab or the UT conduct raids, we flee to the other state,” he told the CJM.

“These startling revelations call for immediate action and we will take up the matter at the highest level,” the CJM told The Tribune.