4,000 bottles of banned syrup seized in Anantnag

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 21

Giving an indication of the increasing drug menace in south Kashmir, the police in Anantnag district have recovered 4,000 bottles of the banned codeine phosphate drug.

The banned drugs were recovered by the police during a raid in a village in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag district on Saturday evening. “The police party of Bijbehara police station headed by the SHO raided a place at Loktipora Arwani village and recovered 31 boxes of contraband substances containing 4,000 bottles of codeine phosphate,” the police said in a statement while sharing details of the raids.

The statement further said that the raid was carried following “specific information” regarding hidden contraband substances in the village.

Terming the recoveries a major haul, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), south Kashmir, Atul Goel said the increasing drug menace “was a problem”.

“But at the same time, we are counselling the youth,” he said about the measures being adopted by the law-enforcing agencies to prevent the drug menace, which has almost taken the entire Kashmir region into its grip, with increasing number of vulnerable youth falling prey to substance abuse. “The accused have been identified and necessary action under law has been initiated,” the police said.

Alarming numbers  

• Drug addiction has been termed reaching at an alarming stage in the recently launched J&K de-addiction policy 
• The drug de-addiction centres set up almost in every district are seeing an increased number of youth addicted to substance abuse 
• Of the 342 people admitted for substance abuse from January 1 to June 20, 2019, in the de-addiction centre at SMHS Hospital, Srinagar, at least 309 (90.3 per cent) were found using heroin