Bringing change in village infamous for drug trade

Considered as the biggest drug hotspot in Nawanshahr, Langroya village, situated just five km from the city, has started showing signs of improvement.

While big drug traders of these villages are now lodged behind bars, small peddlers have been weaned away from the illegal trade by helping them engage in various occupations.

SSP Mehtab Singh shared how the decades-old problem was solved. “Since January 1 last year, we have lodged as many as 33 FIRs in connection with Langroya village itself. The cordon and search operation was held in the village on a number of occasions. Having got key operators arrested, we started holding public meetings in the village. We promised Langroya residents that if they would quit the drug trade, we would help them get a job.”

The SSP said the idea clicked. “Many, who did not want their next generations to fall in the trap, volunteered for the switch. We got their sons employed at shops and in other trades. Though we cannot say that drug trade has been completely wiped out here, the recovery process has begun and our efforts have started bearing the fruit.”

A Langroya resident, who helped the police and wished anonymity, said, “We got some women, who were wives of drug traders, engaged into goat rearing and they agreed. They have left drug business that they were looking after in the absence of their husbands. The transformation of the village is giving a sigh of relief to hundreds of families living in its vicinity.”

The police have also planned sports activities for these villages to target the youth and keep them fit and engaged. The prime objective is to keep them away from drugs. Langroya, with a large population of the Sainsi community, has been notorious for being a drug hotspot for years. In 2017, the then DGP Suresh Arora had visited the village so as to sense the problem and find some solution.

As per the data available from the Nawanshahr police, as many as 630 cases have been registered under the NDPS Act since January 1 last year. A total of 705 peddlers have been arrested in these cases. The police have frozen the properties worth Rs 2.78 crore belonging to drug traders.

“Having seen good results in Langroya, we are set to apply the same strategy in the other drug hotspots of the district, including Aur, Gurpur, Lakhpur, Jandiala, Daultpur, Jabbowal and Thandian. We would soon start measures like providing vocational training to illegal traders and addicts and bringing them into the mainstream. We are also set to rope in some NGOs, which shall help them stay motivated and develop new employability skills,” said the SSP.