50 pc inmates in Kaithu, Kanda jails were into drug peddling: Prison Dept

As many as 50 per cent of the inmates lodged in Model Central Jail, Kanda, and District Sub Jail, Kaithu, in Shimla district are drug peddlers. All of them have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985 and were involved in illicit drug trade.

As per the state’s Department of Prisons and Correctional Services, there are around 500 inmates in Model Central Jail, Kanda, in Shimla district, out of whom 120 are convicts, 45 undertrials, while 165 were detained under the NDPS Act. Similarly, there are 280 convicts and undertrials in District Sub-Jail, Kaithu, out of whom 133 were convicted under the NDPS Act. All these inmates were involved in the peddling of illicit drugs, mainly chitta and cannibis.

According to the police, most of the buyers of illicit drugs get involved in this trade. At first, they start as consumers but later, they also get into drug trade, reason being not having money to purchase drugs. Many times, youngsters are also lured and coerced into drug trade.

At present, the Shimla police is running Mission Clean in which stern action is being taken to nab drug peddlers. Cops have formed a Social Integrated Intelligence System (SIINS) under which the police have prepared the list of drug peddlers in the district. Besides, the police have made a network with hotels, buses and taxi operators to arrest drug peddlers.

During the past 18 months, the Shimla police have arrested more than 1,300 drug peddlers, including several inter-state drug peddlers as well as drug racket kingpins such as Shashi Negi, alias Shahi Mahatma, who was running an illicit drug racket in the Upper Shimla region, mainly Rohru, Chirgaon, Jubbal, Kotkhai etc for the past three to four years.